"Hi!" Matsuri chimed as she approached the front desk in the hospital.
"Hello!" Ino greeted her from the other side of the desk. "What can I help you with?"
"Well," Matsuri started, propping an elbow on the desk and leaning into her hand, "I was wondering if I could speak with the person in charge here."
"Oh!" Ino's expression became concerned, "do you have a complaint?"
"No, not at all," Matsuri replied with a smile, "I found an ultrasound photo on the street yesterday." She held up the photo that Gaara had left behind the night he fled from her. "When I searched for the woman's name here, the top results said someone with this same name works as a nurse here. I was hoping that the nurse in charge would be able to confirm that before I turn it over. I just want it to get back to the right person!"
Ino couldn't suppress the shock on her face when she saw the name in the corner of the ultrasound.
'Sakura's pregnant?!'
"I- I see," Ino stuttered as she tried to regain her composure, "what is your name?"
"Kiyohime," she lied with a toothy grin.
"Alright Kiyohime, give me a moment."
Ino went through a pair of double doors behind the desk. Matsuri could see her talking on the phone to someone. After about a minute, Ino reemerged from the back.
"Our Chief Nurse will be down in just a few minutes," Ino told her, "if you'd like, you can go have a seat over there while you wait." She pointed to an empty row of chairs against the wall.
"Thanks!"
As Matsuri went to sit down, Ino stared at the computer screen before her. She had wondered what had been going on with Sakura recently. Thoughts of concern began to swirl around in her mind. She hadn't answered a single call or text, nor had she shown up to work in about a week. How could she have been so oblivious? Her friend had so clearly not been okay for a long time now.
The elevator dinged and Tsunade exited, looking around for the person that matched the description Ino gave her over the phone.
"Are you Kiyohime?" she asked Matsuri.
"I am! You are the Chief Nurse of this hospital?"
"Yes," Tsunade confirmed, "I was told you might have something that belongs to one of my employees?"
"I think so," said Matsuri. She held out the ultrasound photo. "As I told the woman at the desk, I found this on the street the other day. When I searched the name on the internet, I learned of a nurse here with the same name."
Tsunade took the photo into her hands and just like Ino, she couldn't hide the shock on her face. Seeing this reaction a second time confirmed to Matsuri that she was in the right place.
"That's very kind of you to go out of your way to return this," Tsunade said, "I'll see that it gets back to the correct person." As she was about to walk away, Matsuri hopped to her feet.
"Wait-" she objected, "I was hoping that I might be able to return it to her myself? Or if I can get some sort of confirmation that it got to the right person?"
"I'm sorry, but even if you're able to find the names of employees online, I'm not at liberty to confirm that information," Tsunade explained.
"Oh, okay," Matsuri frowned, "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be pushy. I just know how important photos like that can be. I'd hate to walk away thinking it might never get back to the right person."
Tsunade stared back at Matsuri's pleading eyes. She looked innocent and acted as if she genuinely cared about how this little quest would end.
"Don't worry," Tsunade sighed, "I'll personally make sure it gets back to Sakura."
"Okay, I'll trust you!" Matsuri grinned. As Tsunade turned away to get back on the elevator, Matsuri's cheerful smile faded to a sinister smirk. Now, all she would have to do was wait and follow her when she left.
xxx
Tsunade got into her car and started towards Sakura's apartment. This wasn't how she'd prefer to be spending her lunch break, but she decided she didn't want to wait until her shift was over. She had some things she wanted to say to Sakura if this news was true. Unbeknownst to her, however, Matsuri followed behind on a bike she had stolen from outside the hospital earlier.
Sakura was surprised and confused when she opened her door to see Tsunade's face.
"Tsunade," she greeted her, "what can I do for you?" Had she come here to fire her in person?
Tsunade held out the ultrasound photo.
"Does this belong to you?" she asked.
"Uh…" Sakura quickly snatched it from her fingers.
"How far along are you now?"
"...12 weeks. Going on 13."
"Hmm," Tsunade closed her eyes and brought her fingers to her chin. "I wish you would have told me."
"I'm… I'm sorry," Sakura apologized, "I've been having a difficult time even processing this… informing others is the farthest thing from my mind right now."
"That's alright," Tsunade assured her, "I understand. But I want you to feel like you can come to me with anything. I'm going to place you on paid medical leave for the next few weeks. And I'll make sure you're compensated for the work you've already missed."
"Oh, uh, wow… Tsunade, you don't have to-"
"Worry about getting your life sorted out, Sakura," she interrupted, "and as I said before, call me when you think you're ready to return, and we'll talk."
"Thank you," Sakura said. Tsunade swore she could physically see an enormous weight lift from Sakura's shoulders. "...But hey, where did you get this, anyway?"
She only had two copies printed: one for herself, and one for Gaara.
"Some woman brought it to the hospital this morning," said Tsunade, "said she found it on the street and was very adamant about getting it back to the person it belonged to."
With a sullen face, Sakura looked down at the picture. She wondered if maybe Gaara had purposefully disposed of it after she had asked him to leave.
"Are you alright?" Tsunade asked.
"Yeah… I'm just… tired,"
"Well, I'll leave you to rest then. And I'm looking forward to hearing from you soon."
She forced a faint smile and gave Tsunade a nod.
"Me too," she said. She closed the door as Tsunade turned to leave.
'Maybe Gaara changed his mind,' she thought, tossing the photo onto her kitchen table. She crossed her arms over her chest and sighed, hoping the single-mom life wasn't as bad as she feared. There were plenty of parents out there who have done it alone. It was not what she had envisioned for herself, but it was a possible reality that she needed to acknowledge.
A knock at the door startled her.
'Tsunade?' she wondered. Maybe she had something more to say.
Sakura moved towards the door, but before she could reach the handle, whoever was on the other side forced it open with all their strength. The corner of the door smashed Sakura in the center of her forehead, sending her backward. Her vision instantly became distorted from the blow. She tried to sit up, but as she did, a sudden weight on her chest forced her back down.
"Scream, and I'll cut your throat," she heard a feminine voice.
Sakura's eyes focused on the source. Hovering over her was a young woman with short brown hair and dark eyes.
"Wha…" Sakura was so confused. Who was she? Why was she smiling at her like that? What's happening?
Matsuri had one hand tangled in Sakura's hair and a knife to her throat.
"I thought you'd be prettier," said Matsuri, her tone sounding disappointed yet taunting.
xxx
Temari slumped down on the couch that she just finished dragging into their new home.
"Man, I sure wish I had two brothers to help me with this heavy furniture!" she huffed loudly and sarcastically.
Kankuro stumbled through the front door juggling multiple large boxes.
"Excuse me," said Kankuro, his heavy attitude slightly muffled from the boxes in front of his face, "I'm pretty sure Gaara and I not only moved our bedrooms in but your entire bedroom without your help! I've got one leg and Gaara…" He paused and swore he could feel Gaara's eyes burning a hole in the back of his head. "...Gaara's got a lot of his own stuff to worry about!" This was entirely false but was better than making any comments about his younger brother's feeble body.
Gaara, with Hoshi in his arms, came up from behind Kankuro and stood next to him.
"There's not much left," said Gaara, "just some boxes of clothes in the trunk."
In typical cat fashion upon entering a new environment, Hoshi jumped from Gaara's arms and ran up the stairs to find somewhere to hide.
"Finally," Temari groaned, "I never want to move again after this. We're going to die in this house."
"Dramatic, but okay," said Kankuro, setting the boxes down carefully. Temari shot him an angry look.
Just then, all of their cell phones dinged at the same time. They all glanced at each other suspiciously. Temari was the first to pull her phone out.
Her eyes widened. "Check your phones," she said urgently, jumping to her feet.
Gaara watched as Kankuro checked his. Kankuro slowly raised his gaze to meet Gaara's.
"Gaara…" he almost whispered, "you need to look."
Gaara reached for his phone next. His siblings stared at him, awaiting his reaction. Gradually, the redhead's eyes transposed from unamused to panicked. All three of them had received a message from Matsuri's number. It was a selfie of her smiling and throwing up the peace sign, but in the background, Sakurac could be seen bound to a chair, frightened and crying.
Gaara shoved his phone back in his pocket and bolted up the stairs. "I have to grab something, I'll meet you guys in the car," he said.
xxx
With Kankuro hobbling behind them as fast as his prosthetic leg would carry the rest of his body, his siblings sprinted down the hallway toward Sakura's apartment. Gaara slammed into the door, nearly breaking it off the hinges.
The entryway led straight into the living room where they'd find Matsuri standing behind Sakura and the chair she was bound to. One hand was gripping Sakura's hair tightly, pulling her head back, and the other hand was pressing a knife to her exposed jugular.
"So nice to see you guys," Matsuri said, bearing a sickeningly cheerful smile on her lips. Kankuro finally reached the door, panting heavily. He closed the door behind him after entering the apartment. "There you are, Kankuro! I was afraid you wouldn't be able to make it. Hey, what happened to your leg?"
"Matsuri…" Temari muttered, "...what do you think you're doing?" As she took one step in her direction, Matsuri pulled harder on Sakura's hair. She squeezed her eyes shut and whimpered.
"Don't come any closer," Matsuri threatened, "I'd hate to cut this happy family reunion so short!"
"Why are you doing this?" Kankuro asked.
"Do you guys know who this girl is?" she asked Temari and Kankuro. Her focus shifted to Gaara and her face became more malicious. "This is the woman Gaara's been sneaking around with behind my back."
"Let her go," he urged her, "this is between you and me."
"This is not just you and me," she spat, "she's fucking pregnant, Gaara. What were you planning to do about this? Were you just going to let her have this baby and hope that I'd never find out?"
Gaara eyed her with a cold gaze and hers reciprocated the eyes of a feral animal.
"Sakura is innocent," Gaara responded calmly, "she didn't know about you." He cautiously took a few steps towards them with his hands raised. "This is my fault, Matsuri. I created this problem."
Sakura squinted at him with one eye. 'What the fuck is he doing?'
His words were exactly what Matsuri wanted to hear, but she refused to budge just yet.
"Just let her go Matsuri," he pleaded quietly, voice becoming softer with each word he spoke.
"You- you-" Matsuri's eyes filled with tears and she started to shake.
"Nobody needs to get hurt," he said, still slowly stepping forward, "we can leave and pretend like none of this ever happened."
Kankuro and Temari stood by and watched as Gaara tried to gain control of the situation. With a blade pressing on the most vital vein in Sakura's neck, they didn't want to act hasty. They had witnessed many arguments between Gaara and Matsuri in the past, but never anything like this.
"How could you…" Matsuri choked as her sobbing started to become uncontrollable, "how could you do this to me? After all these years?"
The cracks in her weak resolve were beginning to show. Gaara had learned how to subdue the crazy inside of her over the years. Matsuri knew what she was doing was insane, but she'd go as far as she felt she had to to get even a fraction of Gaara's attention. It was an infatuation that had long turned into a disturbing obsession.
"I'm sorry, Matsuri," Gaara extended a hand for her to take, "I know that I fucked up. Please, just let Sakura go and come with me. We'll go somewhere private and talk about this."
Matsuri glared at the hand he was offering for a moment before locking eyes with him. She struggled to keep her breath from hitching in her chest.
"Talk?" she sniffled, "you just want to talk about how you shattered my heart into pieces? You want to talk about how you're having a baby with someone else?"
"Forget about Sakura and the baby," he said, "it's probably not even mine. She's just a random woman that I spent one night with."
"So you thought you could cheat on me and I'd never find out?"
"I was drunk, I didn't know what I was doing,"
"Do you think I'm stupid?" she asked him.
"Huh?"
"You don't even like to drink,"
It was true- he didn't care for alcohol all that much. But, he was drunk that night. It was not his excuse for sleeping with Sakura, however. He knew what he was doing and did it simply because the opportunity presented itself. That wasn't something he was about to admit to a crazy girl with a knife, though.
"That's why I don't like to," he continued the lie, "I made a huge mistake. But that doesn't mean anyone else needs to get hurt. Please, just come with me."
Matsuri moved the knife away from Sakura's neck. She released the grip on her hair and violently shoved her head forward, giving her whiplash. She slowly walked around the chair until she was standing in front of Sakura.
"Matsuri…" he sighed in relief, thinking that his efforts to calm her down had paid off. But she still bore that heinous expression.
Temari and Kankuro could feel the tension in the room growing thicker. Sakura was in a slight daze, her frantic thoughts leaving her confused. She flinched involuntarily when Matsuri pointed the knife back in her face.
"This can't be between just you and me," she said. "Even if that baby isn't yours, she knows what it's like to be so close to you, to be touched by you…" She paused to look over her shoulder at Sakura for a moment. "...And I don't like to share." She made eye contact with Gaara again. "She's going to die right here, and then I'm going to cut that baby out-"
What happened next was so quick, it didn't register with Sakura right away. She felt something warm and wet hit her face as she stared straight ahead at where Matsuri stood. Slowly, Matsuri dropped to her knees, then like a rag doll, she fell forward and hit the floor hard.
Sakura's eyes twitched. 'What just happened?' She was in shock. She could hear the other voices in the room, but they were muffled. As Gaara swiftly cut through her restraints, Sakura barely felt the pressure. Once her hands were freed, she brought her fingers to her face to touch the strange, warm substance, then pulled back to look at her trembling hand.
'Blood?' her eyes could not get any wider. There were chunky bits as well. Her eyes darted around the room until they fell on the body before her feet. Matsuri lay there, unmoving as blood pooled around her. 'These chunks… are pieces of her brain?!' It clicked. Due to the silencer attached, no sound came from the weapon. But there it was, the gun in his hand. Gaara had shot Matsuri in the head and Sakura was covered in the contents.
Sakura drew in a deep breath, ready to release a powerful scream. Gaara covered her mouth with his hand and shushed her.
"Don't scream," he whispered to her.
She couldn't hold back, though. She started to squirm, prompting Gaara to wrap his free arm around her torso to control her violent thrashing. Her muffled screams turned into sobs and she quickly used up all of her energy in her effort to escape him. When he felt her body go limp, he slowly eased his grasp on her.
"Sakura," his voice was calm and soothing, "are you listening to me?"
With her eyes squeezed shut and tears pouring down her face, she shook her head yes.
"I'm going to take my hand away, but I need you to be quiet, okay?"
She nodded her head yes again.
He removed his hand. Sakura didn't scream, but she couldn't control her breathing. She was having a panic attack.
"Keep your eyes closed," he said.
The only form of communication Sakura could muster was to shake her head yet again. She felt him place one arm on her back and another under her knees, then she was lifted into the air. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she clung to him and buried her face into his neck, still breathing frantically and crying.
Sakura wouldn't open her eyes again until she felt him placing her down. They were in the bathroom now. She was reluctant to let go of him as he ushered her to sit on the toilet seat. He grabbed a hand towel that hung on the wall next to the sink and began to clean the blood from her face. She flinched under his touch, but allowed him to continue, watching his eyes as he did so. Her lip quivered, but her breathing was beginning to stabilize. She couldn't understand why, even after what just occurred, there was something about those eyes that made her feel… safe.
Once he was sure he had gotten cleaned off all the blood, he left the bathroom, returning a few moments later with a fresh set of clothes.
Sakura, who appeared to have dissociated from her body by this point, allowed Gaara to remove the bloodied clothes she was wearing and redress her in a plain black t-shirt and gray sweatpants.
He knelt in front of her.
"Sakura,"
She blinked at him.
"I want you to stay in this room until I come back to get you," he said. "Don't open the door for any reason."
She wouldn't ask why, or how long. She didn't respond in any way. Gaara took her foreboding silence as an answer and left the bathroom.
Gaara joined his siblings in the living room. The three stood over Matsuri's body, her head still oozing blood.
"What a mess," Temari sighed and crossed her arms.
"Yeah, you couldn't have done this on the tiled kitchen floor?" Kankuro asked, "would've made the cleanup part a lot easier."
"I'm going to the store to get a few supplies," Gaara said. "Temari, when I return, I want you to take care of the carpet and anywhere else with blood spatter. Kankuro, I need you to help me with… the rest."
"Right…" Kankuro groaned.
Gaara went on his way.
"It's been a while since we've had to clean up a disaster like this," Temari said.
"I don't understand how he can do something like this and carry on like he's so unbothered," said Kankuro, "do you think he could ever kill us like that?"
They shot each other the same nervous look.
xxx
Sakura had moved from the toilet seat to the floor. Huddled in the corner of the dark bathroom, her arms were wrapped around her knees, holding them against her chest as tightly as she could. She had lost track of how long she'd been in here; it felt as if she had already waited a lifetime.
She could hear an array of different sounds coming from the other side of the door. One sound she could identify was a vacuum- perhaps a carpet cleaner. Another sounded like some kind of electric-powered saw, and lots of scrubbing. She tried her hardest to block it out, but it was too loud. Eventually came the sound of rustling plastic, garbage bags, maybe. The most horrifying sounds she could hear were nonchalant chatter and even a chuckle from Kankuro at one point. Powerful nausea took over as she imagined what was going on beyond that door.
Sakura almost jumped out of her skin when she heard the doorknob click. Light from the other room shone on her face and she squinted at the silhouette in the doorway. As her eyes adjusted, she saw Gaara standing there with his hand out. She reached for it and rose to her feet. Her heart was racing, anticipating the horrifying sight she was about to walk into.
When they reached the living room, Sakura couldn't control where her eyes wanted to fall: the spot where Matsuri's body lay.
But it wasn't there anymore. There was no evidence that it had ever been there. The carpet was spotless and there was a strong smell of bleach in the air.
"Sit," Gaara ordered gently, leading her to the couch. "Temari and Kankuro will be back soon."
Gaara's eyes followed hers to the spot she remained fixated on.
"It's over," he said.
"Y-you…" Sakura choked on her words, "you… killed that girl?" She broke away from that spot and locked eyes with him.
"She was going to kill you," he replied.
Sakura couldn't understand how his tone was so apathetic. He stood there with his hands in his pockets, stoic and unbothered by the fact that there had just been a dead body in this same room only moments ago.
"She was… your girlfriend?"
"I told you already. I don't have a girlfriend."
Sakura looked around the room with an expression so puzzled, it looked like she was in physical pain. Her brain was trying its best to process all the actions and things said earlier. She looked back at Gaara like a deer in headlights.
"You loved her?"
"I didn't."
That nauseous feeling resurfaced. Sakura calmly stood up and made her way over to the kitchen sink. She placed both hands on either side of it, leaned forward, and proceeded to vomit. Once it was over, she put her mouth to the faucet, swished some water around, and spit.
Sakura could sense that Gaara was standing right behind her now. She didn't know whether she should continue panicking or try to flee. A strange numbness had washed over her.
"This wasn't the first time, was it?" she asked with her back still turned to him.
His response would be delayed. He knew what she was asking him, but he was debating whether to answer that question. His thoughts toyed with the idea of how she may react if he told her the truth. Would she try to run? Would she finally scream for help like she tried to earlier? If he lied, would she even believe him?
She turned to look at him, waiting patiently for his response. Her brow creased, fear nor shock no longer present in her eyes. It was evident to him that she already knew the answer to the question she asked, but he would indulge her regardless.
"No," Gaara finally said, "nor was it the second." He didn't need to add that, but he was curious to see how she'd respond.
"That stuff you said about me earlier… Did you mean it? You don't think the baby is yours?"
He certainly wasn't expecting her to gloss over what he just said- but she also changed the subject?
'Interesting,' he thought.
"I know that it is," he said confidently.
A faint blush appeared on Sakura's cheeks, but she maintained her serious demeanor.
"I have more questions," she said.
It was Gaara that would break eye contact this time, glancing all around the room before looking back at her.
"I'm sure you do," he replied.
It was going to be a long night.
A/N: The fake name, Kiyohime (or Kiyo/Kiyo hime), that Matsuri uses at the beginning of this chapter comes from an old Japanese folklore where a woman falls in love with a Buddhist monk, but she kills him after being rejected. I just thought it was suiting.
