Chapter Five: The Cemetery Care Taker
Outside of the station was a small florist. People who come empty handed to the cemetery would usually buy flowers from this shop. The florist was a business for the dead. The front of the store did not look lively and decorated; the central flower on display was the white chrysanthemum. Sakura walked into the store without any expression.
It was getting late and not long from now the sun would be setting. The sky was already very dark and grey due to the hovering clouds. The wind was beginning to pick up and very soon the temperature would also drop. Sakura looked at all the flowers on display and perhaps it was fate as there was only one bunch of roses left.
The bright red colour reminded Sakura of fresh blood. It was her brother's favourite flower and on every Valentine's Day he would buy a bunch for Aoi and save one strand for Sakura. The shop keeper wrapped the roses quickly as her son would be here soon to take her home. As soon as Sakura had paid and stepped her foot out the door, the shop keeper started packing the flowers in the front away.
Sakura stared at the bunch of flowers, it was wrapped roughly and one stem was sticking out. She tried to poke the rose back in but only managed to prick her finger. Blood began to seep out from her opened wound. Somehow she knew that this would happen but she wanted to feel the pain. This little pain was nothing compared to how much her heart was hurting.
While she was walking a boy on his motorcycle rode past her. Under the masked helmet he recognised the girl with pink hair straight away. She was carrying a bunch of roses and her head was looking downwards. She looked very pale and soulless; he wondered if she was alright. He had always wanted to meet her again, his one and only friend at that cold and horrible place they call a 'mental institution.'
...
The boy parked his bike in front of the florist; he took off his helmet to let out his short spiky red hair. He had a long fringe to cover the side of his round rough face; his long bangs could only hide a portion of the scar on the side of his left cheek. He had a very abusive father, he never liked him and the day his father passed away was the day Gaara started smiling.
"Gaara."
"Yes mother."
"You're finally here, hurry up and help me so that we can get out of here before it starts to rain."
Gaara put his helmet aside and walked up to help his mother pack away the flowers. He grew up with nice features and without the scar he would have had a near perfect face. His scar didn't heal up badly but it wasn't what you'd call attractive. The scar gave him a scary and tough look and he would often be mistaken to be a member of a gang.
Once the shutter was closed Gaara grabbed his helmet and wrapped it around his head. His mother grabbed the second helmet and within seconds they were riding towards the cemetery. The house on the cemetery ground was cheap to rent and close to the flower shop. After school Gaara would also act as a care taker and manage the cemetery ground on a part time basis.
When they arrived home, Gaara was really worried about his old friend. He wondered whether she was heading towards the cemetery. He wondered if it was a good idea to go out and look for her. The cemetery was quite big so it may take him a while to find her, and the possibility of her being gone was quite high.
...
Sakura was nearly there, another 5 more minutes of walking and she would be in front of her brother's grave. Sakura had made sure that his brother was buried next to Aoi because she knew that it was the place where he wanted to lay at rest. She didn't know what happened to Aoi or why and how she had died. All she knew was after her death; Deidara had stopped talking and eventually followed her to the graves.
It was as if history was replaying itself, nature was setting up a re-enactment of that thundering rainy night. Sakura could feel the drops of rain sliding down her long tresses; she walked slowly towards the tombstone and bent down to place the roses. Her body felt numb and she couldn't really notice her cold surrounding. The heavy drops of rain continued to mix together with her endless line of tears.
She stared at her brother's picture; it captured her brother's shiniest smile. The photo was taken on the day Deidara had proposed to Aoi, it was the moment after he had slid the ring on her marriage finger. The picture next to him was Aoi's smile after she had received the ring.
"Are you at a happier place now?" She asked sarcastically.
"I don't want to live anymore," she stated in defeat and dropped onto her knees, "What should I do?"
She couldn't care less of the muddy ground; the heavy shower also had no affect on her. She felt like a lifeless shell. The wind had picked up and twigs were blown about, the roses have now become a crumpled mound. Petals of the roses flew in all directions. Sakura was running a fever and her body became really heavy.
Her stressed body was weak, she felt really anaemic and very soon she gave in to the weather. She wanted to close her eyes and never wake up. Her frail body collapsed onto the black pools of dirt below her. On this icy Winter day, God had no mercy and the rain soon turned into hail. Hard little blocks of ice continued dropping on top of her still body. The ice built on top of her.
Sakura usually had a lower than normal body temperature but today her core body temperature was dropping rapidly.
...
It was pouring outside of Gaara's house and it would look peculiar to walk out now. Gaara's mother was busy preparing a simple dinner and she was about to ask Gaara for help when she saw his shadow slip out of the door. She glanced at the window and saw him running in the rain without an umbrella.
"Where are you going in the rain?" She screamed
"I'll be back soon." He replied and quickly put on a rain coat.
Gaara didn't care about getting a little wet, he didn't want to waste anymore time in case she had already left. Although he had forgotten her name, he would never forget her pretty sea green eyes and gentle embrace. He thought it was fate that they should meet again and he was not going to let go of this opportunity to find her.
There were three major sections to the cemetery and they include: 1) Christianity with many sub parts 2) Buddhism/Shinto plus sub parts and 3) a non-religious section. The Christianity section was the closest to his house and he didn't want to rule it out because in his memory, he would often hear his friend chant.
'God must be punishing me, God must be punishing me.'
He had searched every inch of the Christianity section but was unable to find her. He had already lost so much time and now he was hindered further it began to hail and the sun had set. Gaara's surrounding was completely dark and he had no torch. He couldn't use his mobile as the rain was too heavy, his phone would be as good as dead if the water touched it. He was slightly irritated by his wet shoes and the water filled socks that he was now jogging around in.
Gaara tried to think; maybe she had meant the Shinto God. He ran to that section of the cemetery but he had to slow down because he couldn't see well. His luck might be changing as the hail had stopped but the rain was still as relentless as ever. His eyes had adjusted to the dark but a few rays of moonlight helped to guide him. He had searched for over 2 hours now and he was starting to think that she must have left by now.
He reasoned to himself though, roses were quite a unique flower for the dead. Throughout his searching of the two sections he had not come across any living red roses. Perhaps she was in the non-religious section. His memory began to come back to him again, he remembered her words clearly.
"There is no God, God wouldn't be so cruel to us right, Gaara?"
Gaara rushed quickly to the non-religious section and fair enough he could see red petals blowing past his face. He slowed down to catch his breath and his eyes landed on a girl facing sideways on the ground. Gaara felt like he was running a fever hence he couldn't imagine what state his friend was in. She looked lifeless and dead, he wanted to prove himself wrong badly. He fell on his knees at once and placed her in his arms.
Her body was ice cold and her breathing was very faint but she was alive.
Time was really crucial he grabbed the mobile in his trouser and hoped that it was still working. There was no way that he could let an unconscious person ride on his bike, plus it would be too dangerous to ride on slippery muddy roads. He was in luck, his phone was working so he quickly dialled the number of his friend who lived close by.
"Gaara? What's up? You never call me." Asked Yoroi.
"I need your help Yoroi, it's life or death. I need you to drive your car and wait for me at the cemetery entrance. I need you to get here now and I need you to bring a blanket." Commanded Gaara.
"Ok."
Gaara was amazed at how light her body felt, she probably didn't eat well. He carried her in his arms and ran towards the entrance. Yoroi was indeed dependable because as soon as Gaara got to the entrance, Yoroi's car was waiting there for him. Gaara placed Sakura's body gently into the car and pointed to the direction of the small hospital in this town. 'I'm sorry,' he apologised as he began to strip Sakura down to only her underwear. As he was doing so he couldn't help but notice how nice her figure was.
He quickly wrapped her body in the warm blanket that Yoroi had passed him. The hospital was about a 15 minute drive away and throughout the whole trip Gaara prayed, 'God, if there really is a God, then I pray that you won't take her away from me.' Gaara wished he had found her earlier, but all he could do was hug onto her limp body.
...
Gaara's Flashback
Gaara's father had always been violent but you would never believe a father who would be so cruel as to hurt the face of his own child. Perhaps it was because his father had always questioned his mother's fidelity. The scar on his face was the reason why they locked his father away and for that he was really thankful. He had initially thought living with his father was a never ending nightmare.
How he had wished the nightmare had ended there.
The trauma his father had caused him made him very insane. He started developing an obsession with cutting himself. That was also the reason why he ended up at the mental institution. The institution was not nice; in fact it was a horrible place to end up at. The psychologists there would continuously ask questions and perform tests and experiments on their patients.
Each patient had their own individually small white locked up cell; it was like an inescapable prison of hell. Gaara had to remain in this dreadful place for close to a year until the doctors could classify him sane again. He hated that place but it was in this dreadful place that he had met her.
He had always felt alone in this cold institution but this changed when she arrived. She would usually sit far away from him and be engrossed in her own world of bandaging toys, other patients and herself. One day Gaara caught her sweet little green eyes staring directly at him. She started walking closer to him and spoke.
"Your scar is really beautiful. Can I touch it?"
"Ok."
After she had touched it, she began to violently wrap Gaara's face with bandages. Gaara was a bit frightened at her impulsive action.
"Hey cut it out." He cried.
She began to unwrap the bandage off his head.
"Look brother, your scar has healed nicely." She said with a smile and danced away.
The odd couple somehow developed a close relationship. It was funny that whenever Gaara relapsed into a depressed state and sliced himself, the girl would always be there with her bandage to wrap his arm up. He was really thankful to have her there to help him past the time.
Once Gaara was feeling really depressed, he couldn't cry, he couldn't scream, he just couldn't do anything but itch. His fingers had a life of their own and he couldn't control them from scratching his forearm. His friend sensed his uneasiness and pain so she came up to him and embraced him. She placed his head on her lap and spoke with a gentle voice.
"Long long ago there was a sleeping princess; her step mother was a horrible witch. The witch cast a spell on the princess to remain sleeping until one day her prince arrives..."
Gaara had fallen asleep and thus was unable to hear the ending.
...
When Naruto arrived at the hospital, Neji had told him that Hinata had woken but she soon fell back asleep. The doctors were hoping that she'd wake up again so that they could perform more tests. After a few moments of catching up, Neji needed to head home, he had already spent half a day next to his cousin's bedside.
Naruto sat beside Hinata and held her small soft hand with both his hands. He pressed his head to the side of her bed and prayed, 'Dear God, please let her wake up. I would trade anything if you could help her.' Naruto felt something moving in between his hand, it was Hinata, and she was moving her left hand.
He watched her rapidly twitching eyelids and suddenly they flicked open. She stared at him and he looked back at her. Two beautiful round amethyst eyes continued staring at him, her mouth began to shake and with all her strength she spoke.
"Naruto?"
TBC
Revised version of Ch 5.
Ch 6: The Ice Queen Relapses