Author's Note: Well! That must have been some read! I'm sorry if some of the descriptions were kind of icky. I just wanted to get the violence across. But then again, if you're watching Naruto, bloody violence isn't all that bad... Especially with the Sasuke and Itachi fight going on right now! In Japan, that is... gets handed a paper from her editor Huh? Oh! Right! I've got an announcement! reads the paper over That... I'm supposed to say in the next... chapter? Uh... Okay! And for some reason that reminds me of something else... I've got a deviant account! Just look for me under RyuRedwings and I think you'll find something of interest... And while I'm at it, I'm also on GaiaOnline! As Ryu Redwings. Simple, right? Anyway! Enough of my babbling!! Happy Reading!!- Ryu
The Turning of Hearts
Ryu woke up, feeling a headache as soon as she opened her eyes. She recognized the plain white ceiling and pale blue walls of a Konoha hospital room. She couldn't move her left arm, and found it painful to try and take a deep breath. She looked over at her arm and saw it covered in gauze and white tape. Her chest was covered in bandages as well.
She bit her lip, trying to hold back the tears and sadness that was spilling into her consciousness. She could remember everything that had happened, what she had turned into. The tears spilled over, as her chest prickled in the pain of suppressed heaves. They saw... she thought despairingly. They saw what I am...
Heartache and tortured feelings swam in her chest and head. They would be terrified of her now, her friends. The friends she loved and cared about would be terrified of the spirit that called her body it's home. The thought was breaking her heart. She didn't want to lose the friends that she had found in the village.
She had been so scared of coming to Konoha and not finding anyone to talk to besides her long-lost grandparents, who she wasn't even sure would take her in. Instead, she had found Kiba and Akumaru. Then Guy, TenTen, Lee, and Neji... And then Gaara... She kept down a wail; all the people that she loved had probably already turned their backs on her because of what she was.
Even Gaara, who would probably hate her for not trusting him enough to tell him. He had trusted her, hadn't he? She heard the door click, and quickly wiped her tears away as Lady Tsunade walked in with Shizune and another nurse.
"Well, it's nice to see you awake," she said gently. She looked kindly at the girl who looked completely miserable.
This didn't look like the girl she had seen a few weeks ago, out of bed and ready to jump out the window just to get out of the hospital. She looked subdued and weary; tear streaks glittering on her pale cheeks. Tsunade sat down on the bed and looked her bandaged arm over. She was healing quickly, and after reading Guy and Kurenai's report, everything seemed to make sense now.
The girl's quick recoveries had always puzzled her, but now that she knew that Ryu had a demon spirit in her, it explained a lot. The arm was healing quickly; a small streak was all that was left of the open gash she had seen two days ago. She checked her chest wound, finding the same thing. The healer then turned her attention to something else.
"Ryu," she said. The girl looked at her. "Can you show me your seal?"
The girl nodded numbly. "It's on my back... Between my shoulder blades."
She took her shirt off so the hokage could look at the seal that never faded. It was like Gaara's, a stark tattoo on her back. Tsunade studied it, finding it completely unlike anything she had seen before. There was the signature swirl within a circle, but it had looping wings coming off the circle along with two triangles along the bottom and top of the seal. There were small circles that were scattered around the seal, two looking like round cartoon eyes within the loops that formed wings, and four others going along the bottom with the triangles that were divided into twos, then fourths, and so on until the last one.
The parts of the seal varied in color, the swirl and looping lines in the center being purple, the circles within the wings being red, and the feathers of the wings being yellow. The triangles were green, and the four other circles along the bottom were black.
"Do you know who did this seal?" she asked Ryu.
"She did it."
"Who's she?"
"The Winged Tiger," she said tonelessly. "She sealed herself in me."
"Oh..."
Tsunade checked her pulse and her IV drip, and then got up. Shizune had already opened the curtains of the room, remembering that she had liked sunshine.
"Well, you seem okay. You're wounds are healing pretty fast." Tsunade said, trying to cheer the girl up with her good health. "Do you think you're up for some visitors? You have a lot of friends who want to see you."
Ryu looked up at her, her eyes a little surprised. She then looked back down, twisting the end of the blanket with her thumb and index finger with her good arm.
"Um... I... Don't really want any visitors..." she murmured.
Tsunade felt a pang of sympathy for Ryu. She nodded.
"Alright, I'll tell them." she said.
The nurse and Shizune followed her out of the room, and closed the door. Ryu watched the door close, and looked out the window. Her eyes wandered around the clear blue sky. She hated hospitals...
Downstairs in the lobby, Tsunade saw that Guy, Lee, Neji and TenTen were nervously standing while Kiba sat in a chair with Al in his lap and Akumaru on top of his head. Temari was nervously tapping her foot while sitting in a chair as Kankuro paced. Gaara stood against a wall, his arms folded and studying the floor with a brooding glare. Dr. Masuda and Inu were sharing a newspaper, but she could tell they weren't reading it. She sighed; she didn't want to tell them that Ryu didn't want to see them right now.
She cleared her throat. Guy immediately perked up and went up to her along with Dr. Masuda.
"Well?" Guy asked. "Has there been any change?"
She nodded her head. "She's woken up, and her wounds should be healed by the day after tomorrow," she said. The two men gave a sigh of relief.
"Can we see her?" Dr. Masuda asked.
Tsunade frowned the slightest bit.
"Ryu doesn't... Feel up to seeing anyone right now," she said. She remembered the misery in the girl's eyes. "Maybe tomorrow."
Inu's ears drooped underneath the hood of the grey sweater he was wearing, and Akumaru whined on top of Kiba's head. Guy and Dr. Masuda looked sadly at one another and went to their respective groups. Gaara had looked up at the news, but was now already leaving the building. Temari looked to Kankuro and quickly followed him out.
The next day was bright and sunny, making the wind pleasantly warm on Gaara's face as he walked around in Konoha. They were leaving in about two weeks so he had decided to take more walks. He kept to the tops of the buildings, working on his balance as he walked around. He was heading in the direction of the hospital, hoping that Ryu was feeling better enough to have visitors. Though he had the feeling that she was feeling just fine, but didn't really want to see anybody.
He had run into Lee the day after the mission, and had asked how it had went. He hadn't mentioned the fact that he had attempted his own rescue in the efforts to retrieve Ryu from Orochimaru and Kabuto. Lee had been very serious, and told him exactly what had happened, including how whatever demon Ryu had sealed inside her had come out. His thoughts were on this information as he walked toward the hospital, and how Ryu might be feeling at this moment. Exposed... Frightened... Alone... He knew what it was like.
He quickly ran up the side of a temple nearly next door to the hospital, and viewed it from afar. The roof was covered in lines for laundry, white sheets flapping in the wind. A different color caught his eye, and he quickly ran toward the hospital's roof. He landed easily onto the tiled roof, and walked toward where he had seen the patch of dark blonde hair. He found her sitting near the edge, her knees drawn up to her bandaged chest and looking out over the village.
"I had a feeling I'd find you up here," he said to her.
Ryu didn't look up at him.
"I hate hospitals..." she said. "I couldn't stand being in that room anymore."
Gaara took his gourd off, and sat down next to her. Her hair was down, the usually ragged looking hair looked feathery in the light breeze that was blowing. He then noticed that her hair had a slight wave and thickness to it. That feeling he always got when he was around her glowed in his chest, but he quickly brushed it away. He had bigger things to deal with.
The light in her eyes had gone out. He took a breath.
"Ryu..."
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you anything," she said, catching him off-guard. He blinked.
"It's alright..." he said. "It doesn't really matter to me anyway."
Ryu suddenly came to life again.
"That's easy for you to say!" she suddenly shouted. Her eyes were filled with pain as she looked at him. "You weren't there!! You didn't see-!! You didn't-!!"
Her eyes quickly filled with tears. She choked down a sob, but then let a smaller one out as a spasm of pain raked itself across her chest from trying to use her battered muscles. Gaara sat there as he watched a few tears slide down her cheeks. He reached over and pulled her over to him, bringing her into a hug. Her body shuddered against him as she finally let herself cry, soaking his shirt in salt water.
She looked up at him, her eyes shining with fresh pain and despair.
"Gaara, he saw the whole thing!!" she said. "Kiba saw the whole thing, from beginning to end!! Gaara, what am I going to do?! How can I face him after all that he saw?!"
She buried her face in his shirt, trembling.
"He's probably terrified of me now!! He won't even be able to look at me!!" she wailed into his chest. Gaara could say anything, but held onto her just the same.
He knew the best thing would be to let her spill all of it out. He rested his head on top of hers as she continued to cry. He felt the urge to rub her back, and started to move his right hand along between her shoulder blades, feeling the shudders of grief go through her body. He closed his eyes and sighed.
"Ryu," he said this while looking down at her, trying to look into her face.
She hiccupped as she looked up at him, her eyes tinged with pink.
"I don't think..." He tried to gather the words in his mind.
"Real friends... Don't care what you have inside you, whether or not you have one soul or two. It doesn't matter to them that you can turn into a monster in the blink of an eye, they... Love you for who you are. They know that it's you that's inside, not some demon that was stuffed inside you against your will. You're a person that's important to them, with feelings and a heart."
Ryu listened, biting her lip. She looked away, studying the scene of Konoha at noon. He waited patiently as she mulled what he said to her over in her head. He was actually getting quite comfortable with her in his arms. It felt... nice. Ryu sighed.
"I guess..." she said. "You're right... It's just..."
She looked back to him.
"No one's ever really known, except me, Inu, and the Doc. I've never really been one to open up like this..."
She made herself more comfortable in his arms, not really wanting to get out of them just yet. It was comforting to be near someone right now.
"But still... What am I going to do? How do I face them after... all that?" she asked him. He sighed.
"You just... Do it, I guess." he said. "You go in and hope for the best. If they can't handle it, then they really weren't your friends to begin with..."
Ryu looked down, considering his words, and trying to clear the hurt from her mind. Ow, that headache was coming back... But it was true. That's what it all came down to really. Take a deep breath, say a quick pray, and then just dive in to hear what they say. She pressed closer to him, trying to find some strength from her friend. She thought she heard a noise come from him as she did, and she quickly moved away, worried.
"I'm sorry! Did I hurt you?' she asked quickly. She thought she saw the faintest of blushes on his cheeks.
Gaara shook his head, getting up and avoiding her eyes.
"No, no, I'm fine!" He gave her his small smile. "I have to go soon though. Do you want me to walk you down?"
"And get back into that cell they call a room?! Hek, no!! I'll go back down when I'm good and ready!!" she said fiercely, making him want to laugh.
She inched closer to the edge, swinging her legs over the edge of the building.
"Besides, I like it up here. There's a lot more sun." she said, tilting her face to try and warm herself up. Gaara nodded.
"Alright. I hope you take visitors tomorrow so I can see you."
"Oh, I might not be here tomorrow," she said quickly as he turned to jump from hospital and back to the temple. "Lady Tsunade said I'm nearly healed so I could go back home tomorrow if I like. Don't worry, I'll let you know where I am."
He then left, trying to sort out his feelings. It was like he had been lit on fire when she had suddenly been so close to him. Something had suddenly sprang to life in his veins, causing him to feel more alive then ever had in his whole life. He had wanted to do something to her, but couldn't put his finger on what... He thought it actually might be best to try and figure out his own feelings before he went to see her again. He still felt pretty tingly too...
Kiba walked along one of the hospital hallways, Akumaru on one side, and Al on the other. Raikera was staying with Gaara and his siblings at the moment. He really hoped he could see Ryu today. He just wanted to see if she was okay, and show her that he wasn't scared of her. He had been for a while, but then remembered their squabbles over spirits and demons.
It had dawned on him that Ryu hadn't been talking about anyone they both knew; she had been talking about herself. He very nearly cried at that realization. How many times had he said so many careless things about spirits? He felt like he was the worst friend ever as he couldn't even see past the end of his own nose. He really wanted to see if she was alright, and, maybe, if she wanted to, if he could have some forgiveness. He turned the corner to see TenTen, Lee, Neji, and Guy standing at her door.
"Ryu!! Come on!! We know you're in there!!" TenTen shouted, banging on the hospital room door with enough volume to wake up a whole cemetery.
Kiba hurried over.
"What's going on?" he asked. Neji looked at him.
"Ryu's barricaded herself in her room."
"WHAT?!"
He could only stare at the determined kunoichi as she continued to hit and shout at the door. Akumaru and Al were busily smelling the floor however, and this got his attention more then TenTen did at the moment. The puppy looked up at him.
She's not in that room! The pup quickly told him. But we've got her scent!
Then what are we standing around here?! Let's go find her!!
He quickly left the scene, following the two animals. They gradually led him up to the roof, Kiba's heart freezing over in fear. He ran ahead of them, bursting out onto the roof with so much force he thought he heard one of the hinges snap.
"Ryu!!" he called, looking around the flapping white sheets.
He skidded around a few laundry poles then caught sight of dark blonde hair. He ran over to it, and in seeing Ryu sitting on the edge, promptly freaked out.
"NO! Ryu, don't do it!!" he practically screamed.
In hearing the noise, the girl quickly jumped up from her seat. "What?"
Before she even knew what was happening, Kiba had practically thrown himself at her. She lost her balance from the sudden weight, and they tipped over the edge. They both ended up screaming in terror. Ryu's wind reacted to the feeling and quickly shot them both up, and she managed to land with Kiba still wrapped around her in a bear hug. She pushed him off of her.
"KIBA?! What's the big idea, coming out of nowhere like that?! Are you nuts?!" she shouted at him, pretty freaked out.
"Me?! What about you?! You were gonna jump off the building!!" Kiba shouted back, flipping out as much as she was.
"Jump?! I wasn't going to jump!! I was just sitting there like a normal person, unlike you nearly pushed me off the darn roof!!" She folded her arms stubbornly. "I couldn't even jump off a building if I wanted to anyway! My wind wouldn't let me!!"
Kiba blinked, somehow this making a lot of sense to him. "Oh." he said.
"Oh!"
His previous feelings suddenly came back in a rush, and he quickly wrapped her in a hug. "Oh, Ryu!! Are you okay? How do you feel? I was..."
He looked at her. He didn't exactly wanted to admit it, but he had been scared for her. Her brown eyes searched his face, and he swallowed his pride.
"I was afraid. For you." he said, his face showing his feelings.
Ryu blinked, processing the information. Oh, thank God... was all she could think. She hugged him back, holding onto him as hard as she could, relief spreading through her body. She looked up at him.
"So... You're not afraid of me?"
He opened his mouth, but then hesitated. A small spark of fear snuck into Ryu's heart. Kiba took a breath; he needed to be honest.
"I was... At first. But then I thought about it for a while, and I realized what I saw wasn't really you. That's another part of you, but it's not the Ryu that I know and love. Which is why I came to see you today." he said. He looked away from her, biting his lip.
"Ryu, I'm sorry. About everything that I said before... I never thought you might be talking about yourself." He then looked imploringly at her. "Do you forgive me?"
Ryu looked at him for a moment, and then laughed. She rubbed the top of his head, ruffling his hair.
"You silly boy! You actually thought I'd be angry with you about that?" she said, still giggling. She then hugged him again.
"I'm just glad..."
She started the sentence, but then let it trail off. He waited for her to finish, looking down at the top of her head. Funny, he didn't remember it being so close-up before. She looked up at him, smiling, and she shrugged her shoulders.
"I'm just glad, I guess."
She let go of him, and bent down to greet her cat. She picked him up, and hugged the animal.
"Oh!! I was so afraid that he killed you!! I'm so happy to see you alive, Al!!" she said as the cat purred so loudly she could barely hear herself. He climbed onto her shoulders and started to rub the sides of her head.
Akumaru walked over to Kiba, panting happily. The boy scratched the back of his head, and then cleared his throat.
"So, uh... There's a group of people waiting for you downstairs. That is if a certain kunoichi hasn't broken down your door yet." he said. Ryu looked up, surprised.
"Oh!! I forgot about the door!!"
She quickly airslid to the broken door, and went downstairs, the boy following after her. As she went down the stairs, Ryu felt like she could sing. They didn't care!! They DIDN'T care!! She was still Ryu Akihara, last of the Akihara's and resident crazy-girl.
She quickly turned a corner before Kiba could catch up to her and spun on a foot in happiness. THEY DON'T CARE!! YA-HOO!! she shouted in her head. She didn't care if she got reprimanded for leaving her room and causing panic and confusion. The people she loved didn't care that she had a crazy winged tiger demon spirit stuck inside her!
Gaara sat outside on his very small porch, looking out into a different part of Konoha then what you could see on top of the hospital. The hospital... Ryu... He still felt strange whenever he thought about her, which he found seemed to be more frequent. He didn't get it... Why did he feel this way?
He heard keys at the door, and turned to see Temari walk in with some groceries balanced on her hip. He turned back to the view with a small sigh. But as small as it was, Temari still heard it and recognized the feeling put into it. She put the groceries down on the table, and picked her way through the moving boxes that were littered about the apartment. She stood next to him, and looked at him.
"What's the matter?" she asked him. He shook his head.
"Nothing, really..." he said. She folded her arms, studying his face.
"Then why exactly do you look like you could kill the scenery?" she said.
He sighed once again, giving her his signature brooding look.
"It really is nothing... I've just been doing a lot of thinking lately..."
Temari sat on the railing, easily balancing herself with a toe on the floor and her back to one of the porch's walls.
"Do you mind me asking about what?" she said.
She was genuinely concerned. The years had proven that when Gaara was stuck thinking a lot, the result was either really bad, or, until recently, really interesting and kind of cool. He had an unusual way of thinking so she liked to hear what was on his mind. She had noticed he had been exploring his feelings more recently, trying to make himself more human. Gaara considered the street once more, and then looked at her.
"No. Maybe you can help me." he said. Temari straightened herself up.
"I'll try."
"Alright..." He took another breath and then looked at her. "Can you... Do you think... Temari, do you think you can explain love to me?"
His older sister blinked at him. "Uh... What?"
"Can you explain love to me." he said, making it sound more like a statement then a question like before.
She stared at him for a moment, then looked down in thought. Well, she had been willing to help, but she hadn't expected this... How could you 'explain' love? Love was love; it couldn't be explained! She looked up once again at her younger brother.
"I'll try, but I don't think I'll do a very good job," she said, feeling uneasy.
Gaara then thought of something. "But what about Shikamaru?"
"Excuse you?"
"I heard you tell him that you loved him. Can't you explain that?"
Temari stared at him a little bit more. She shifted on her perch.
"And explaining that will help you... How?" she said, sounding a little testy.
She was used to Kankuro ragging on her for her relationship with the laid-back Nara, and actually got kind of angry with anyone if they had opinions about it. She generally didn't like putting it into conversation either, and if Gaara was going to turn out like Kankuro...
Gaara shrugged. "I don't really know. If you can't help me, I'll just ask Kankuro." he said.
Temari nearly jumped off the railing at that thought. Knowing Kankuro, he could either take this seriously, or way too lightly. She'd rather take her chances with herself, thank you!
"No! No, I think I can explain now!" she said quickly. She thought a moment to gather her thoughts.
"When it comes to loving another person, it can go in a lot of different ways. Like, how I love you and Kankuro. I love you two because you're my brothers, and we're part of a family. But then there's Shikamaru, and me, which is a little harder to explain. Love like that is...
"It's when two people are attracted to one another. Sometimes you're attracted to a person because of the way they look, or because of a quality. But sometimes it can just come out of nowhere when you look at someone."
Temari looked at her brother a little unsurely. "Is all of this making a little sense?" she asked.
"Yes, a little. But what do you mean by attracted? Do you mean like magnets, or something else?" he said, looking a little confused.
He was starting to make a few connections in his head. Words he had heard before were starting to make more sense. He sort of understood the phrase 'love-at-first-sight' now...
"It basically means to be drawn to a person for some reason." she said.
Gaara suddenly sat up straight. "And then? What else is there?" he asked attentively.
Temari fidgeted. This was so hard to explain!! Even if you were in a relationship!
"Well... You usually feel really nice around the person... Like..."
"Warm and tingly?" he asked quickly. She blinked.
"Yeah."
Gaara stopped looking like he was about to jump off the porch and suddenly went back to brooding. Temari's head was abuzz with questions. How had he known what it felt like to...? Holy freakin' shit, she suddenly thought as it dawned on her. Gaara was in love.
But with who?