"Kazekage no Seluni . . ." he said softly, "Where were you from again?"
My breath hitched. "The Wind, of course,"
"I know, I meant before that." His black eyes fixed on mine.
"The Hidden Cloud Village, Kumogakure." I felt my heart speed up as I tried to smile.
His voice lowered. "You must be from a prominent clan, to have married the Kazekage, especially so young. Was it an arranged marriage?"
"I was the daughter of the Raikage, and yes, it was made for political reasons. But I don't see why you're so interested." I knew I was being rude, but I was just nervous because someone was digging into my past, a very handsome someone.
"Ano, you just look like someone I . . . used to know." His gaze floated away and he seemed to be lost in his thoughts.
"Seluni," Naruto suddenly tapped me on my forehead, "Where's your hitae-ate? Do you have one? Aren't you a ninja?"
"No, I'm not. Being a ninja isn't everything, you know."
I could swear I heard Sasuke snort a laugh as we watched Naruto's face drop, mortified. What did I say wrong?
Sakura laughed. "Don't mind him. Naruto's under the impression that he'll be Hokage one day, so being a ninja is basically everything to him."
"That's not true, Sakura! I think lo-ove is important, too!" He made a cute lovey-dovey face to her, seconds before she swung her fist lightly into his head, which he didn't bother to block, I noticed. But I was mentally telling myself I would have to ask Sasuke who he was referring to before. If it was a clue to my past, any little detail might be important . . .
Within a few minutes, Naruto begun talking himself into a good mood again and was chatting my ear off with stories about Konoha and its ninjas. I thought I might as well try to get some useful information, as long as he was going to talk anyway.
"Naruto," I interrupted him droning on about ramen stores, "I heard that Konoha has different clans here. Is that true?" He nodded vigorously, happy that he was being useful. "Hai, there are a lot of clans in the Fire Country," he counted a few off his fingers, "There's Hyuga, Inuzuka, Nara, Aburame, Akimichi, Yamanaka, Kurama, and, uh, that's all I can think of for now."
"You forgot my clan, Naruto." Sasuke's voice was hardly more than a whisper. Naruto's smile flickered for only a second. "Ah, yea, the Uchiha Clan, w- ah, is the strongest clan in the Fire Country. But either way, I can kick Sasuke's sorry ass any day!" (AN: Nice save Naruto!!)
"Um, yeah, I met the Inuzukas in the Sand a few weeks ago. Kiba and Hana, I think. You know them?" He nodded.
"Kiba went to the Ninja Academy with us," Sakura explained, "But why were they there?"
BOOM. A loud explosion from across the village made me jump in surprise. The ground shook from the blast and before I could register what had happened, six blurs of ninjas shot away towards the sound, and I was left alone in the street. I stood uneasily for a second before deciding to follow them, not that I could be of much help. Taking off into a run, I could easily make my way through Konoha, aiming for the brown cloud of smoke that rose up menacingly from the spot.
But before I could reach the site of the smoke, I tripped and hit the ground, getting the wind knocked out of me. I tried to get up, but my feet wouldn't move.
I turned onto my side to see that my feet were tangled in an odd white web. I touched it lightly and my finger stuck to it. What the hell is this?
As I struggled to free myself from this little net, I only succeeded in entangling my feet and hand further. Suddenly, pop! A small white spider appeared out of nowhere and crawled towards me.
Spiders had always creeped me out, and this one was especially gross. It looked like it had no eyes and it had a small Seiryū (the Azure Dragon constellation) kanji on it. It crept closer and I squirmed away. I even tried to swat at it, but the thing jumped onto my hand and scuttled onto my shoulder towards my neck.
About to hyperventilate, I shook my head around to throw it off, but a sharp sting on my throat told me I had been bitten. Immediately, I felt drowsy, almost drunken, and my body dropped to the ground.
I felt a shadow on me as something blocked out the sun. Gusts of wind from above blew my clothes and hair. With my last ounce of energy, I threw my head upright to see up. A dark shape silhouetted against the sun was growing larger above me, and I thought I heard voices from far away as I drifted off into unconsciousness.
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I was back in my bedroom in the Wind, cuddled under the covers and watching the orange flames dance in the fireplace. The bright glow was mesmerizing, seeming to take shape and just as I was about to recognize it, the flames changed again.
Movement near the window – the familiar form of Gaara stepped down from the windowsill, cloak blowing in the wind. Putting down his gourd, he walked over to me in the dark and stood next to the bed. I leaned over to wrap my arm around his legs, silently inviting him in.
He bent down to kiss my forehead, his hand stroking my cheek.
"I missed you today," I murmured, and his lips moved to mine. My eyes closed as I felt his soft kiss, the kind that ensured me he was in control of himself tonight, which meant I would not be unsatisfied. Heat rushed through me in anticipation. Gaara stood up again just as the fire swelled, lighting up his face. But it wasn't his face, those black eyes weren't his, that dark hair wasn't either.
"Don't look so upset, I missed you, too,"
It was Sasuke, I realized with a shock, and I backed away quickly, until I reached the end of the bed and I fell –
I woke up in a cold sweat, in a dark room, face to face with my attacker. He was swinging a key around his fingers, a key maybe to the chains that bound me to the wall.
"You sure slept awhile, yeah," he commented.
Painfully short, I know!!
I wanted to get this one out sooner - but the next will be longer, I promise. Please review, all my lovely readers!!