I don't own Naruto, dur!
Rae POV
Dinner had been fairly calm after Gaara left. Temari spent much of it yelling at Kankuro for being gross while eating, which actually seemed to be fairly normal. I was in the kitchen washing dishes. I had volunteered since Temari cooked and Kankuro seemed insulted when she asked.
I was humming to myself when I heard the door to the kitchen creak open and a low growl emit from that direction. I didn't even have to look to know who it was. I knew it was Gaara behind me glaring at the back of my head, sneering his trade mark sneer.
I continued washing and humming. I was going to ignore him as long as I could, and trust me, after having to hang out with Dae and Flem, I had an almost endless amount of patience. I heard him pace around, almost unsure of what to do. He took several steps forward then stopped. I continued my chore. A few more steps, silence. He took two more long strides and he was behind me, practically breathing down my neck. I continued to ignore him. His breath tickled against the back of my neck.
I waited patiently for him to move. He didn't.
I finished with my chore and he was still behind me. I moved normally, not even acknowledging he was behind me. I put all the dried dishes away in their respective cabinets, got out a cup and poured some water for myself to take up to bed. The entire time I felt his eyes on me, but didn't even glance his way. I wouldn't give in to his scare tactic.
I pulled the door open only to have it slammed shut by sand. I still didn't look his way. I waited several minutes and tried opening the door again. Once again, it was slammed shut. I shrugged.
"Must be the wind." I said aloud. I tried a third time, again to no avail. I just stood there. Waiting. One of us would have to break. I stood there silently for about twenty minutes, feeling his eyes bearing into the back of my skull.
"Look at me." He growled. I ignored it. Only looking at the door, my back to him.
"Look. At. Me." His voice rose in volume. Again, I said nothing, did nothing. I was not going to let his bratty attitude continue.
I heard his footsteps as he walked over. I stood there, relaxed and calm, I didn't want him to know how much his presence made me want to run after seeing what he did to his own brother. I felt his breath on the nape of my neck again. He was even closer than last time, our bodies almost touching.
Gaara POV
I had only come in to get some dinner, but she was there, almost waiting for me. It irritated me, boiled my blood that I couldn't do something as simple as avoid a stupid woman. I growled at the thought. I wanted her out of my sight, but every time she tried to leave I had stopped her. I didn't want her ignoring me. I wanted her to look at me, but she didn't even bother. I wanted her acknowledge me, to be scared of me like she should be. I wanted all that, but there was an unfamiliar emotion lingering.
I shook my head mentally of the thought. I did not need her attention. I didn't care if she died or lived, I hope she'd do the first one.
"Look at me." I demanded. Nothing.
"Look. At. Me." I said again louder. Silence.
I walked over to her, ready to snap her neck to get her to scream, but even though I was right behind her I couldn't do it.
Of course you can't. that woman… she kills all blood lust in you, and in me. I hate her. I want to hurt her so much, but just her presence… it makes me weak. It's like in the portal, she sapped away my energy.
What do you mean she sapped your energy? TELL ME!
This woman…is different. She gives off no chakra or any type of power but she seems to be able to take energy from me. In the portal, our minds touched. Her mind was in a weakened state as was yours and I wanted to scare her, to make her terrified of us. But she wasn't afraid and when I pulled back from her mind, it was like she trapped me there and took my energy.
No wonder you've been so quiet…
Shut up and kill her. You want her blood. It would taste so sweet, all the defiance dripping out of her. Her final thought would be one of pure terror. Kill her, tear her to pieces for me.
Rae POV
Gaara started shaking and murmuring to himself. He sounded possessed. And then he fell to his knees, gasping in what seemed like pain. I forgot all about ignoring him.
"Gaara!" I cried. I knelt down in front of him.
"Gaara, what's wrong? Gaara!" I wanted to reach out to touch him, but I was worried he'd react like he did with Kankuro. I shook the thought from my head.
No, he's in pain. He won't hurt me. I grasped onto him, pulled him into a hug.
"Gaara please. Tell me what's wrong. I want to help. Please, let me in." I whispered in his ear. His body gradually stopped shaking. His head rested on my shoulder and I could feel him breathing heavily. I heard footsteps rushing down the staircase.
"Rae! Are you okay?" Temari burst into the kitchen. Gaara was gone before she came in, leaving me with nothing but sand in my hands. I looked down.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Gaara was just behaving strange and I was worried about him is all. He left, so I guess he's fine now." I looked up at Temari. She nodded and left. I sighed and went to my bedroom.
It had been two weeks since that day. I hadn't seen Gaara since then, except for a few glimpses of him walking around and training with his siblings. Temari and Kankuro barely had much time for me lately. They were all getting ready for an important mission or something. No one told me anything and I didn't bother asking since they were determined to not tell me.
I kept myself busy with the book Baki brought me and even had a couple of the ninja's that worked guard duty at the gate teach me some stuff. Bahjahl, a friendly ninja with many scars but kind eyes was teaching me how to use a kunai. And Rika, a female ninja (they called themselves kunoichi) was teaching me about the history of the land of Wind, which was the nation the village of sand resided in. Of course, I could have learned all the stuff she was teaching me from a book, but it was more interesting to talk to her about it.
It was early morning when a knock came on my door. I opened it, a tired look in my eyes and my grumpy face on.
"What?" I whined.
"We're leaving on our mission. I just wanted to say good bye." He smiled. I slammed the door in his face. I knew they were leaving this morning. I heard him walk away. I grabbed a small bag and rushed out the door. I hoped I planned this right.
"Kankuro!" I called out as he disappeared around the corner. He turned to look at me, a sullen look on his face.
"You guys are doing something dangerous aren't you." He nodded again.
"Take me to the front gate with you. I want to say goodbye to Gaara and Temari too." He shook his head with a huge grin.
"Silly woman." I stuck my tongue out at him as he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder.
I screamed the whole way there. I had seen them all jumping and running around before, but actually experiencing it was terrifying! Kankuro dropped me on my butt right outside the gigantic stone wall that represented the gate.
"God damnit woman! You have lungs of fucking steel!" He cried out. I giggled. Turning to Temari, I gave her a hug. They all started to walk off as I just stood there.
"Gaara, wait!" I ran up to him. I hadn't realized it until then, but he was kind of handsome, standing there as the sun rose behind him, his arms crossed and his face solemn.
"Here." I held out a small box. "But don't open it until tonight." I added quickly. He hesitated to take it. As he occupied himself with finding a place to put the box I balanced on my very tippy toes and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Come home safely." I whispered as I pulled away. Truth be told I missed being around him the past couple of weeks, even though he always acted like a jerk, but for some reason, after that night in the kitchen I felt more like I was taking care of an abused puppy than a spoiled brat. I wanted him to feel wanted. I hadn't had the chance to because of all his training and his obvious avoidance of me, but I would try to show him all the kindness I had in anyway possible.
As I stood there, smiling like an idiot, he looked at me with his always-intense gaze, and then turned without a word to join his siblings. I waved as they all jumped off. I felt my heart tug a little. I hoped they would be all right. I didn't know what they were off doing, but I knew it was dangerous.
Gaara POV
We had been running all day and were almost to an oasis that was constantly used as a rest place for the sand ninja.
She gave you a gift to break your guard down. She's going to betray you.
Shut up raccoon, I know that.
Then why are you keeping it and not opening it until nightfall? It's probably a trap of some sort.
The raccoon growled as I ignored his question. He had been grumpy ever since she held me that night. I wanted to laugh at him, but knew that that would only make him worse.
Night fell and we stopped at the small oasis. I took my usual post in a tree as the other two chatted quietly around the fire. My hand grazed the spot she had kissed. It still tingled. She always managed to catch me off guard and I hated her for it. I ripped the box open. A small stone fell out. It was a necklace.
Stupid woman, giving me jewelry. what an idiot.
I was about to toss the necklace far from me when a note fell out of the box. I unfolded it and read.
-Gaara,
I saw this the other day while wandering around outside the wall. I don't know what kind of stone it is, but it reminds me of you. When held up to moonlight and looked in to, you can see what looks like a black flame. I wanted you to have it. Please come home safely. I'll await your return.
*heart* Rae-
She actually drew a heart. What a retard. I held the crystal up to the moonlight. She was right. A flame danced inside the stone. I grunted at her stupid gesture of kindness. I didn't want to get rid of such a fascinating object, but didn't want to give her the satisfaction of me wearing it, so I tucked it into my kunai pouch.
Our mission was actually pretty simple; go to a warring country, help and leave. Easy.
Rae POV
It had been two weeks since they left. I now spent everyday with Rika and Bahjahl, I wanted to be at the gate so I knew just when they came home. It was late into the afternoon when a ninja from a higher post on the wall cried out.
"People spotted!" I was so excited. I rushed down the wall, this of course took forever since I wasn't a ninja. As soon as I got there though, my hopes were crushed. They weren't Gaara or his siblings.
A blonde boy dressed in all orange stood in front of me, three other men standing behind him. The blond had shaggy hair, bright blue eyes and a contagious grin. The boys behind him looked almost scary. One was dressed in all green with a bowl cut and a turtle face. The other had white eyes and long brown hair. The last boy was walking far behind the others at a slow pace wearing a green vest. His eyes looked bored and his brown hair was pulled into a tight ponytail.
My eyes started to water as I watched Baki talk with the blond.
"Baki." I ran towards him. He looked down at me and looked ready to run for the hills when he saw my teary eyes.
"Where's Gaara?" His face grew soft. He patted my head like I was a lost puppy and smiled.
"Don't worry. He'll be fine." I sniffled. My moods had begun to become depressed lately and I think he sensed that.
"Naruto, would you and your teammates please take Rae home?" Baki asked.
"Sure!" The blond yelled. We began walking.
"I'm Naruto, what's your name?"
"Rae." I stated simply.
"How do you know Gaara?" He asked, hands behind his head.
"We're engaged." They all halted.
"WHAT?" They screamed in unison. The turtle boy, Lee, stood there slack jawed as did Naruto. The longhaired one, Neji, scoffed.
"How the hell did you manage to get that monster to agree to that?" His head held high as if he were better than everyone. He made the deadly mistake of being within an arms length of me.
THWACK
A huge red handprint was plastered to his face, shock written all over his features.
"Never call him that!" I yelled, my cheeks tinged red with anger. He turned back to me, anger in his pale eyes.
"And what would you know of it?" His voice low.
"I don't! Nobody tells me anything about him, but it shouldn't matter what happened in the past. All he is now is lonely and confused! And he shouldn't be judged for that!" I screamed at him, tears rolling down my face. He looked slightly touched by my words, but still stubborn in his judgment. I turned on my heels and ran. I didn't know why I was running; I just felt that I had to get away. I had been in the place for a couple of months and even though I felt a little more comfortable in the village, it still wasn't home. I missed my home, my friends, and my life. I turned into an abandoned building and collapsed onto the floor sobbing. I had never felt so weak and useless in my life.
"Where'd she go?" Lee yelled. It sounded like they were right outside the building.
"I don't know. Let's split up!" Naruto yelled. Shikamaru sighed. "How bothersome."
I didn't want to go anywhere, I just wanted to stay there and feel sorry for myself, so I did. I must have fallen asleep because when I opened my eyes again it was dark out and my legs were completely numb. I felt sick all of the sudden as I realized I'd have to go back to the house and be alone again, so I figured I'd just stay here. I curled up into a more comfortable position and went back to sleep.
Gaara POV
We had gotten back to the village about and hour before sunset. One of the guards, Rika, I think was her name, came down to greet us. She bowed low and informed us that Rae had been waiting for us, but was met by the leaf ninja and was now missing. As she finished her report Naruto, Lee, Neji and Shikamaru leapt into view.
"Gaara!" Naruto called out waving me over. I walked over to him with Kankuro and Temari.
"Naruto!" Kankuro yelled, grabbing him by his shirt collar and lifting him up.
"Where the hell is Rae?" Kankuro tightened his grip on the ninja.
"Well, we don't really know. Neji said something that really seemed to upset her and she slapped him then ran away crying and now we can't find her. We've been looking all day!" Naruto managed to stammer out. I had heard enough. I leapt from their sight and onto the roofs of the village.
Why do I even care if she's gone? I shouldn't be looking for her. She doesn't care about me.
Shukaku was strangely silent.
Whatever.
Love, vessel, is a strange circumstance.
I don't love anyone but myself.
Hmph. Obviously. I growled at the overly sarcastic comment. I jumped from the roofs of the village to walk through the now abandoned streets. Not many people came out at night, for a good reason. I could hear sobbing down an alley. At first I ignored it. It wasn't any of my business and I certainly didn't need people thinking I had gotten soft.
"Shut up, bitch!" I heard a male voice yell, then a soft thud and a familiar voice.
"Bite me!" The voice managed to sputter out before I heard another thud, a groan and the sound of something hitting the ground. I turned down the alley to see two men undressing the now unconscious Rae. They were dead before they even knew I was behind them.
I felt such blind raging anger. It was an anger I hadn't felt in so long. It almost hurt. I was pulled from my thoughts when I heard Rae cough. She looked so … broken.
Good, you should have just let them finish her off.
Shut up.
Why do you care? You aren't meant to love, and she will never love you. She'll hate you when she finds out what you REALLY are.
Shukaku chuckled as I attempted to push him out of my head.
I knelt down and picked her up carefully. She was so light in my arms. Her face was bruised and she had a cut running the length of her chin almost to her throat. He top had been ripped and she had no pants on. Her arms and legs had been cut up and when I wrapped my arm around her waist I could already feel several broken ribs from when they must have kicked her. I carried her swiftly to her room before getting a medic. She was so fragile just then. I could have killed her with one wrong touch, yet I had not the desire to. I just wanted her to wake up. I held her now limp hand. The very hand that had slapped me. The very hand that had held me when I was in pain. I held it when no one was watching. I needed her to live.