About a week went by, and Gaara hadn't really seen much of Akina. He really wanted to make sure that she was alright, but he had been so caught up in his work. It took a week for him to finally find the time to go and check up on her.
He knocked on her door and was surprised that no one answered the door. He tilted his head to one side, a little confused. He knocked again before twisting the door knob and entering her apartment. He was also surprised to see that her apartment was unlocked. The village was a relatively safe place, but Akina still locked her door.
He walked into the apartment and quietly shut the door behind him. He stood there for a couple minutes and could hear the sound of someone crying. He followed the sound down the hallway and into Akina's room. His eyes widened slightly when he found Akina lying down on her bed, quietly crying into her pillow. Gaara silently shut the door and took a few steps towards her.
"Are you alright Akina?" he asked softly. Akina jumped at the sound of his voice. She hopped off of the bed and glared at the red-head. He looked at her with worried eyes and slowly approached her. She took a few steps backwards until she was practically up against a wall. His eyes widened when he saw he pull out a kunai.
"Stay away from me!" Akina snapped, pointing the kunai at him. "Just go away!" She lunged at him with the kunai, actually intending to hurt him, or worse. Gaara stepped out of the way at the last moment and grabbed Akina's wrist. She raised her other arm to try and get him off, but he quickly took her by that wrist as well. He pinned her up against the wall, keeping both of her arms down at her side, holding onto both wrists tightly.
"Stop it!" she cried, struggling against his grip. "You're hurting me!" Gaara didn't let go.
"Let go of the kunai Akina!" he told her firmly, squeezing her wrist even more. She struggled against him for a few moments longer before she finally let the kunai fall to the floor. Even after that, he didn't let go of her. Instead, he quickly let go of one of her wrists and wrapped that his arm around her waist. He did the same thing with his other arm so that now he was holding her against him while still keeping her arms pinned at her side.
Akina screamed at him, kicking and struggling beneath his grip. Tears were flowing from her eyes, running down her cheeks and splattering onto the floor. Her whole body started shaking uncontrollably and her breathing was short and uneven. He held her tightly against his body, not wanting her to hurt herself.
"Why are you doing this Akina?" he asked, grunting as he did his best to keep her from throwing him off balance. Finally, the girl collapsed in his arms. She started sobbing uncontrollably, just like she had the last time. Gaara sat down on the edge of Akina's bed with Akina on his lap, sobbing into his shirt. He held her shaking body close to his own, wanting to calm her down.
"Akina, what is going on?" he asked softly, rubbing her back with the palm of his hand. Akina clutched onto his shirt, digging her nails into his skin. Her hissed in pain, but didn't try to stop her. He wanted her to get everything out now, rather than later.
"I'm…. s-sorry!" Akina choked in between sobs. Gaara nodded, looking down at her with sad eyes.
"Akina, please talk to me. What's making you so upset?" Akina shook her head.
"I…. d-don't w-want…… t-to talk…… about… it," she whimpered.
"Akina, you need to tell….."
"Please don't make…… me talk about it!" she begged, looking up at him with pleading eyes. Gaara looked down at her with shock, but nodded.
"Alright Akina, you don't have to tell me about it right now," he told her gently, hugging her against her. "But I will find out what is bothering you, one way or another."
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"You wanted to see me Kazekage-sama?" a jounin asked, poking his head into the room. Gaara looked up at the brown haired man and nodded his head. The jounin slipped inside the room and closed the door.
"You were on that mission with Akina, weren't you?" Gaara asked. The ninja frowned and nodded.
"Yes, I was." Gaara sensed something in his voice that wasn't very pleasant.
"I need to ask you a question about that mission, and I need you to answer me truthfully." The ninja looked down at the ground with sad eyes before nodding. "Did anything happen to you guys or specifically to Akina during the mission?" The ninja looked at him with blank eyes and sighed.
"I'm sorry Kazekage-sama, but I promised Akina that I wouldn't tell anyone." Gaara looked at her with stern eyes, showing him that he wasn't playing around.
"Akina has been in complete turmoil ever since the mission. The other day, she went as far as pulling a kunai on me. I'm not just concerned about her because she is a fellow shinobi, but because she is also a good friend of mine."
"I'm sorry Kazekage-sama, but Akina made me swear that I wouldn't say anything." The ninja looked down at the floor for a few moments before looking back up at the red-haired leader. "I suppose I can write it down though. That way, I'm not technically breaking my promise." Gaara nodded at the shinobi and pushed a pen and a piece of paper to the edge of the desk. The brown haired boy stepped forward and scribbled something down on a piece of paper. He then folded the paper and slid it back across the desk. Gaara picked it up, opened it, and began reading it. His eyes widened when he finished. He set the piece of paper down on the desk and looked up at the shinobi in complete shock.
"Did she tell you this?!" he asked in disbelief. He shook his head.
"I kind of found her, and ended up breaking it up. If you end up going to her, please don't tell her that I revealed anything to you." Gaara nodded in agreement.
"Thank you for cooperating. I won't tell her. You are dismissed." The ninja bowed in respect before turning and exiting his office.
Gaara leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling with sad eyes. He couldn't believe it, and he didn't want to believe it either. He never thought that something like that could actually happen, but he was proven wrong.
Gaara slowly got up from his chair and left his office. He couldn't just sit around after hearing the truth like that. He wanted to confront Akina about it immediately, but he didn't think that that would be a good idea. He wanted to confront her in the best way possible, but he wasn't sure how to do that.
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"Hey Gaara!" Temari welcomed as the red-haired boy entered their home. Gaara looked up at her with sad eyes before looking away and going to his room. Temari winced when she heard him slam the door shut.
"I wonder what all that was about?" she thought to herself. Temari got up from her spot on the couch and walked down the hallway. She knocked on her baby brother's door and entered. She raised an eyebrow when she saw her brother sitting on the edge of his bed, glaring a hole through the floor. She walked over and took a seat next to him.
"Alright baby brother," she sighed. "Spill your guts. I know there's something bothering you. Anyone in the house knows." Gaara sighed in frustration, clenching his hands into fists.
"For the first time in years, I have the strong urge to kill someone!" he growled. Temari's eyes widened. When he said this, the first thing she thought of was the Shuukaku. The only problem was that Gaara no longer possessed the tanuki demon. This urge was entirely his own.
"What for Gaara? Did something happen to you?" She looked at her brother with worried eyes. Gaara shook his head and bit his bottom lip.
"It didn't happen to me." Temari tilted her head to the side, not really following what he was saying. "Do you remember when Kankurou and I told you about when Akina totally freaked out that one morning?" Temari nodded.
"Did it happen again?" she asked. Gaara nodded his head.
"Yes, about three days ago. She even pulled a knife on me that time." Temari looked at him with concern.
"I wonder what has been bothering her," Temari said out loud.
"I talked to her one of her teammates, and I think I might have found the reason. I want to approach her about it, but I'm not sure if that is the best idea."
"What did you find out?" Gaara bit his bottom lip, thinking about whether or not he should tell her. "You have told me this much already. You had better tell me the rest of it." Gaara closed his eyes and nodded.
"It happened during her mission, apparently during one of the raids on the village. They were already weak and most of the civilians were either dead or severely injured. They were under supplied in ninja, and had a very slim chance in being able fend off another attack."
"Gaara," Temari interrupted, "You're stalling." Gaara bit down on his lip hard. He couldn't even find the words. He reached into his pocket and took out the slip of paper the jounin had written on. He handed it to her and looked down at the floor in shame. Temari opened it up and read it. She gasped, tears starting to form in her eyes.
"No wonder she has been acting like this," Temari whispered, crumbling the piece of paper up in her hand. Gaara nodded and buried his face in his hands. "The poor thing!"
"I don't know what to do," he told her softly, his voice filled with sadness. Temari thought for a moment before putting a hand on his shoulder.
"I think I should talk to her," Temari told him. Gaara looked up her questioningly.
"Why you?" he asked.
"The main reason is that we are both girls. She'll probably feel much more comfortable if she is talking with another female about this. The second reason is that you are way too close to her." Gaara looked at her in confusion. She just smirked at him and shook her head. "You're so clueless sometimes. Just let me talk to her first, alright?" Gaara sighed, but nodded.
"I'll be waiting to hear how everything went." Temari nodded and pet her brother on the head.
Well, there's chapter eight. What do you think happened? Please tell me how you liked this chapter! I'd like to thank the 2 people who reviewed for chapter 7.
ikka-bikka-boo - thanks a lot. On top of homework, I try to find a little bit of time everyday to write. Even if it is just 5 minutes.
NeferNeferi - Thanks! I liked it too, even though it was over something upsetting.
Thank you all so much! I'll update either after receiving 5 reviews, or in 2 weeks. Whichever one comes first. I would update next Sunday, but my school's musical opens up this week and stuff, so I'm going to be tired out. However, if I get 5 reviews, I'll update before that time. It's up to you. If you don't want to wait 2 weeks to find out what really happened to Akina, REVIEW!!!
C-Ya!!! 8P