A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Some made me laugh my arse off and some made me go all warm and fuzzy, but all were very much appreciated :D Your Demon: just how 'little' is this little brother of yours? Eeek, I hope he's not too young, lmao, I may have destroyed his innocence :-s
Naoko's eyelids fluttered open. The cold, harsh light of morning roused her into reality. She sat up and gazed around the strange room, puzzled. This wasn't her room. Then she remembered. She looked at the bed and the empty space beside her. Gaara had already woken up and gone to work, she guessed.
She snuggled back into his bed, greedily bundling the covers around herself. The sheets smelled of him. She allowed a victorious smile to hijack her lips. She clenched her legs together, enjoying the satisfied soreness between them. Her heart swelled with love. She adored him. Everything about him: his loveable stoic, stern demeanour; the playfully seductive and dangerous temper that she loved to test; the secret smile that he reserved for her and her alone. She wanted nothing more than to stay by his side here in Suna.
But she couldn't. The smile disappeared from her face. An anxious furrow set itself between her brows. The realisation of what she'd done was painful. They'd fallen for each other, and she'd allowed it to happen. And very soon she'd have to leave. Regret stabbed at her heart.
"How the hell could I be so fucking stupid?!" she chastised herself out loud.
She stumbled out of bed and began searching Gaara's bedroom floor for last night's discarded clothes, before noticing that Gaara had already retrieved them and arranged them neatly on a chair. Tears began to sting her eyes. The familiar urge to run overtook her body. To run away and disappear. The way she'd always been running. She had to leave Suna as soon as possible before she could do any more damage, she thought to herself in a panic. Maybe then she'd be able to forget Gaara.
She pulled on her clothes hurriedly before dashing out of the Kazekage's room back to her own, praying she wouldn't be seen. Once she was back in her own room she quickly showered, erasing every trace of Gaara that remained on her body from the night before. She dressed in her usual black attire and grabbed her tools before racing out of the door, boots unlaced. She headed straight for the technical room where she knew Yuki would be.
"Good morning. Late as usual" Yuki sighed, noticing her friend in the doorway. She continued to chatter listlessly.
"Not much left to do here now. We'll probably finish today y'know. We just need to test the signal and then piece the whole thing back together agai…" her voice trailed off when she finally noticed the look on Naoko's face.
Naoko was stood in the doorway, doubled up as if in pain. Her hand gripped the door frame in a tight fist. Yuki could see the white bones of Naoko's knuckles through the strained skin.
"Naoko? What's wrong?" she asked with a concerned tone.
Naoko looked up. She was obviously fighting back tears.
"I love him Yuki…"
"Naoko, what did you do?" Yuki gasped nervously.
"Last night…we slept together…" and with that she broke down.
Yuki rushed to her friend and held her hand tightly, trying to comfort her heartbroken friend.
"But I can't stay here. We have to leave today" Naoko continued once she'd regained her composure.
Yuki understood and gave a nod. The two engineers solemnly set to work, finishing the job.
It was early evening and Gaara strolled through the corridors, having finished his day's work. Earlier on, those damn kids had somehow managed to infiltrate the Council building again, besieging a very confused secretary in her office for two hours, but even that hadn't dampened his mood. He chuckled silently to himself.
He was looking forward to spending some time with Naoko tonight. He halted outside her door and knocked.
"Who is it?" came her muffled, anxious voice from inside the room.
He opened the door and immediately froze. Naoko was on the floor, packing her things in a hurry. She looked up at him, and a wave of regret washed over her face.
"Gaara…" she whispered.
"What are you doing?" he demanded.
She stood up, hoisting her rucksack onto her back. She bowed her head.
"We've finished the job here. I'm leaving. Yuki's going back to the hidden mist village to visit her family, and I'm going with her." She said quietly.
Gaara's eyes didn't move from her.
"You weren't going to tell me, were you?"
She kept her eyes on the floor.
"Goodbye, Gaara." She tried to push past him. He blocked her path.
"I won't let you leave" his voice rumbled.
She shoved him away harshly, earning her a deeply hurt look from Gaara's desperate eyes. She hated this. It broke her heart to do this to him.
"You can't leave me. I need you" he said selfishly. For once, he didn't care how weak he sounded.
"I have to go! If I stay, they'll find me here, and they'll kill me" she yelled.
"I won't let them. I'll protect you." He reasoned.
"I won't allow you to risk your life for me!" she cried, now irate.
"I DIDN'T HAVE A LIFE BEFORE I FOUND YOU!" He boomed.
She froze, taken back by his anger. His words were tearing her apart.
"Please, Gaara…" she begged.
He suddenly grabbed her and kissed her roughly, trying to shut her up. He didn't want to hear the words she was saying. She pulled away, tears escaping from her eyes.
"I'm so sorry…" she whispered, and turned away from him. He looked on helplessly as she disappeared down the corridor. She was gone.
He stood there for a few minutes, trying to comprehend what had just happened. There was a sharp tearing sensation ripping through his chest, as if she'd taken his heart with her when she left. He slowly walked back to his room.
He looked around the room, at the window, the chair, the bed.
"Listen up, sonny boy, you do your job and leave us to do ours"
"Hey Tiger"
"So this is your weapon? Very clever. Now put me down"
"I'm quite capable of walking on my own."
"Sabaku no Gaara…I'm so in love with you…"
"Always."
Memories of her words echoed through his head. He turned and saw the mirror on the wall beside him. He looked at the eyes of his reflection. Eyes full of hate. He looked at the kanji on his forehead. Love. He lashed out violently and smashed the mirror with one fist.
A/N: Leave a review! It makes all the work even more worthwhile!