"Would you like anything to eat?" asked Gaara. He stood in the kitchen with his back to Rayne.

She just growled and then mumbled something he couldn't understand which wasn't surprising since she wouldn't lift her head off the table.

He almost missed the quiet, tired, and injured Rayne from last night. She was an entirely different person now. Cranky, hung over Rayne was scary. How can the girl that fell asleep in the bathroom last night be the same thing as the monster his brother dragged into the kitchen this morning? Gaara had left Rayne to sleep in early that morning. Kankuro had already been up, having taken the rest of his team home to their worried families early in the morning.

"I'll take that as a no then." He growled. "Fine then, if you don't need anything then I'm just going to go to work." Technically he didn't have to go to work but right now he just wanted to get out of the house. He wasn't sure what had come over him last night but just looking at her now almost made him blush with embarrassment. He had behaved very out of character last night.

Rayne sat back up with a groan and then shuffled back to his bedroom with his blanket dragging on the floor. It was loosely hanging off her shoulders. He scowled and walked away, leaving her alone in the house as he left for work.

She was woken up a few hours later by a tapping on the window. She jumped awake and immediately felt for the knife she kept under the pillow only to remember this wasn't her bed and there for it wasn't there. She slowly rolled over only to see Akio's smug grin staring at her from the other side of the bedroom window. She scowled and pulled herself out of bed.

"Aren't you supposed to keep off a broken leg?" she said grouchily as she opened the window and let him in. "And what's the problem with using the front door?"

"Are you kidding? You don't just knock on the front door of the Kazekage's house. Nice room by the way" he said checking the place out. His injured leg was wrapped in heavy bandages but that didn't seem to keep him from walking on it.

"It's not my room" she yawned. "It's Ga-" she stopped, catching herself. "It's the Kazekage's"

"Whaaaa-!" he shouted, jumping back on his good leg. "Why were you sleeping in his bed? What are you even doing in his room? He's going to kill us!"

"Calm down kid," she said sitting back down on the bed. "He knows I'm in here. So what's up?"

Akio looked around one more time then seemed to relax. "I just wanted to stop by and see how you were doing. And you know, say thanks for helping me and stuff" he said scratching the back of his head. He looked down at the carpet trying to hide the blush that was on his face.

"It's no problem" she replied pretending she didn't notice the redness of his face.

"So what are you doing in the Kazekage's room exactly?" he asked trying to change the subject.

"I don't have my own room so he just lets me stay here sometimes." She answered lying back down on the bed.

"So you really live with them? I can't believe that by staying with friends you meant the fucking Kazekage and his family! How do you know them?" he asked leaning on the windowsill now

"It's complicated."

"I've got time." He smiled

"It's personal" she growled.

Akio sighed. "That's what you always say. You have too many secrets Rayne. Every time we try to ask you anything about before we met you, you always avoid the question."

"Yeah, what's your point?" she frowned. She really did feel a little bad about it. She knew almost everything there was to know about these kids now and she hadn't been able to tell them a thing about her life. It wasn't like she had much of an option though.

"I just feel like we don't know you sometimes."

"Sorry kid" she said trying to convey that she really did feel bad about it.

"Eh, it's no big deal I guess. Well I just wanted to stop by to see if you were okay. I should probably get going. I have to get home before my old lady gets worried. You know how moms are sometimes. Oh I mean…" he blushed again remembering what she had said about not having parents anymore.

"It's no big deal" she said softly. "You better get back so she doesn't worry though. I'm glad you stopped by Akio. Make sure you get rest for that leg though. I don't want to be picking up your slack on the next mission." She gave him a quick smile.

He returned with a big boyish grin and she felt bad because she sometimes forgot how young he was.

"Alright Rayne, I'll let Hitoshi know you're doing alright. See you later." He waved before closing the window behind him and disappearing.

Rayne made a strange groaning noise and pulled her legs back up onto the bed. She pulled herself back up to the top of the bed and then buried her head under the blankets. She slowly crawled back under them and laid face down with her head down at the end of the bed and her feet sticking out on the pillows. She tried to fall asleep but it was hard with the tears that crept into her eyes as she couldn't help but think about what her life had been like when she was his age.

A few hours later Rayne woke up as the bedroom door opened.

"What are you doing?" came a questioning voice.

She was still lying upside down in the bed and all Gaara could see from the doorway was her toes.

"Sleeping" she moaned.

"Well come get some food, I made dinner."

"Alright, alright" she mumbled as she detangled herself from sheets that she was convinced were trying to kill her. She followed Gaara out of the room and into the kitchen. She only noticed two plates sitting out.

"Temari and Kankuro won't be joining us then?" she asked.

"No they won't be home till late."

Great, it's just the two of us. How lovely she scowled. She sat down across the table from him and tried her best to avoid looking at him. Rayne only picked at her food as they sat there in one very uncomfortable silence. Gaara didn't say a word the entire time. He cleared his plate quickly and didn't bother to look up while he ate. When he finally finished eating he looked up to see her staring at him but before he could say anything she looked away. She looked up again to see him still looking at her. He was.

"Why don't I do the dishes?" she said getting up before he could say anything. She quickly turned the water on in the sink to create some sort of noise in the room. Gaara dropped his dish off over at the sink then exited into the living room.

What the hell was that all about? asked Madarou.

How should I know?

That had to have been one of the most awkward dinner situations I have ever had the misfortune to witness.

Yeah you're telling me. I had to sit through it.

How do you think I feel? That's my whole life now! Just sitting there watching as you go off and do stupid things.

"Oh shut up you stupid mutt." She growled.

"What?" Gaara called from the living room.

"I didn't say anything" she quickly called back.

She finished the dishes, taking as long as she possibly could then walked out into the living room. Gaara lounged at one end of the couch flipping through channels on the television aimlessly. Rayne sat down next to him and by next to him, I mean as far away from him as she could get while still sitting on the same piece of furniture. She stared blankly as the young man next to her continued to flip between channels. She shivered a little, the room feeling both cold and uncomfortable. What was going on with him today? She couldn't help wonder if she had accidently done something last night while drunk. Maybe he had been mad that she was so drunk. He really hated having to deal with her drunken actions, like that time she got kicked out of the bar a few months ago. He had been really ticked about that…

"You're cold?" he asked suddenly, making it almost seem like a statement more than a question.

"Wha? Oh yeah. It's no big deal. I'm always cold, well at least ever since I… died…" she said awkwardly. There was no normal way to phrase something that admitted that you had actually died for a while.

"Sorry"

"Don't worry about it. You know, it surprisingly wasn't that bad. It only hurt for like a few seconds and then all of a sudden you don't feel anything anymore."

"I know…" he said not taking his eyes off the television.

"Wait, what?" She said finally turning to look at him. He shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat.

"I'm not sure if you heard about it but I went missing for a while after a fight with Akatsuki's Deidara." Rayne nodded her head, knowing what he was referring too. "When they took Shukaku away from me I died. Elder Chiyo used a special jutsu to bring me back to life after Uzumaki Naruto got my body back from them. Only a few people actually know what happened."

"I'm sorry, I had no idea." She said shocked. Being brought to life after being that dead wasn't something that she was sure happened; in fact she had assumed she was the only one that something that crazy had happened too. That was just another thing she had in common with him.

Gaara simply shrugged his shoulders and went back to flipping through channels. Rayne sat quietly trying to think of something to say but really what could possible follow up a conversation about your own deaths.

Suddenly Gaara stopped flipping through channels, leaving it on some sort of crappy movie. "I've been thinking about something all day. I know you don't want to talk about it but I can't wait any longer Rayne."

She felt her stomach drop. She didn't like the direction this conversation was heading.

"Why were you in prison?" He finally looked away from the tv and focused his eyes on her."

"Look I told you I can't tell you." She said, growing uncomfortable with his eyes watching her like that. Maybe it was time she found somewhere new to hide. She didn't know how much longer she could avoid answering questions. She wasn't sure how much she even wanted to anymore. Her conversation with Akio today was more of a reminder. It was getting hard to live like that, always having to lie to these people that were trying to be her friends, who actually cared about her. Maybe it was better if she left. She was probably safer on her own anyways.

"Why not?" he demanded.

"I'm afraid to…" she said weakly.

"Afraid? Of what?" he asked.

"People, you…" the last part she said so softly that he almost didn't hear it. He seemed to recoil a second to what she said, like he was genuinely surprised.

And he was surprised. "Me?" he asked, sounding a little hurt. It's not like he wasn't used to be scared of but never had Rayne been afraid of him.

"How do I know you won't send me back as soon as I tell you everything? What if that's just what you are waiting for? What if once you figure out the whole truth you will decide that they were right in what they did to me? What if you know the truth and hate me?"

"You don't trust me"

"Why should I? Why wouldn't you turn me in? Kick me out? Send me back? Why would what happens to me mean anything to you?" she said sounding angry. He didn't have the right to be offended by her not trusting him.

"You really think I would do that to you?" he looked away. Maybe they weren't as close as he had thought. Just because she liked the rest of his family didn't mean she had to get along with him. "I'm a demon host too, or at least I was. I know how it is." In his head he was cursing himself for sounding so stupid. "You can trust me is all I'm saying. You haven't done anything wrong while here so I have no reason to send you back."

"I don't… I don't understand." She said looking down into her lap. Every part of her brain was telling her she couldn't trust him because of what had happened to her in the past. Yet she still found herself wanting to tell this man she barely knew everything about her history.

"Don't understand what?"

"Why should I trust you?!" she said, sounding more angry than she meant to. This guy caused her to be more confused than ever and that scared her. "How can I trust anyone? I have been betrayed by people I never thought would turn against me!"

"I was in the same position as you once." He answered softly.

She buried her face in her hands. She didn't want to admit it but he was right. He did know what she had been through better than anyone could ever understand. But she couldn't help but feel that if he knew the whole truth, knew what she really did, that he wouldn't think the same about here. Maybe he would think she was a monster just as ugly as the one he freed himself from.

Gaara tried to move a little closer to her, trying to get any information he could out of her.

"I…" she took a deep breath. "When people figured out what I was, a demon host, they locked me up. They were scared of what I might do. Or what other villages would think if they found out that the hidden leaf had another demon host." Rayne paused for a second waiting to hear Madarou commanding her to stop but there was nothing. She still felt him there but he was silent. "I wasn't able to control myself very well at first. My demon, as you could imagine was not very happy about his situation and he tried to take control a lot in the beginning. The elders didn't want another conflict for the village so they decided to make sure nothing ever got out about this. They just took me in the middle of the night…"

It was just starting to get cold when she was walking back from eating out with her team. It was their sensei's idea to go out that night. It was the first time she had actually seen them since the accident and that dinner had been a little uncomfortable with her team giving her unsure glances the whole time, no one being able to make clear what the situation was. She was having such a hard time focusing that night with Madarou roaring in her ears the entire time. Things were finally starting to feel a little more normal as they started their walk home, now that they realized she was still herself and wasn't going to freak out and kill someone without notice. Sensei had decided to take the long way home that night. Out of nowhere they were suddenly surrounded by AMBU. She could remember them forcing her to the ground, catching her completely off guard. Himiko was absolutely frozen with fear, looking all around, not sure what to do. Kaede tried to run to help her but Sensei held him back the entire time no matter how hard he fought against them.

"I'm sorry Rayne. Please try to understand" was the last thing she remembered him saying to her.

He had betrayed her and lured them all out here. Suddenly her anger overtook her and she felt her control slipping. She was scared and just wanted them to stop. Madarou's rage came bubbling up to the surface and everything around her seemed to get blurred out.

"I… I almost lost control but they knocked me out before anything could happen" she said shaking her head. "I could have hurt my friends; I could have killed them…" She looked over at Gaara but saw nothing but concern on his face. She decided it was okay to continue. "The first place they put me wasn't all that bad but I was young and I was scared and I wanted my parents and my friends so I escaped. I didn't get very far though but to be safe they had to put me in a higher security place. That's what the marks are from" she explained, without realizing it her hand moved down to trace the scars on her wrist. "I tried to escape constantly so they had to chain me up. I would get so mad that I would just let Madarou take control. No matter what I could never stay out of jail and every time I tried my treatment just got worse and worse. I was in pretty bad shape by the time I made my last escape."

~X~X~ X~ X~ X~ X~ X~ X~ X~ X~ X~ X~ X~ X~

Sorry that chapter was a little short and boring. It's been way too long since I last updated. I'm hoping to have the next chapter up relatively soon so please don't be too mad about this crappy chapter... Please review
~Reiko