Yooo. Sup? Here it is, chapter 26. I can't remember much about what I was going to say, but anyways. Thank you for the reviews, the favourites, the follows. Lovin' the support people. Also, Seliiia, my girl. I'm waiting eagerly for that giant ass review you're going to post. 3 Anyways, this chapter is a bit of a filler? Kind of? I sort of just winged it, like I do with nearly every chapter.
Enjoooy.
Everything hurt.
My muscles ached like hell.
The sun's rays were beating down on me.
But I couldn't stop, no matter how much I wanted to. I couldn't even slow down.
Why?
BECAUSE MY MOTHERFUCKING DEMON OF A FATHER WILL THROW KUNAI WITH EXPLOSIVE TAGS AT ME IF I SLOW DOWN FOR EVEN A FEW SECONDS!
"You're a demon!" I yelled, huffing as I jumped over a fence with great effort. I rolled along the grass as I landed, soon getting back onto my feet to run forward, only just dodging the the explosion that blew up behind me.
"Isn't this a destruction of property?!" I demanded, too preoccupied with the obstacles in front of me to look back at the following jounin.
"Maybe." I heard him drawl, apparently uninterested. Sadistic bastard. He's my father, alright.
I was running around the entire village, it was part of my training to become faster and more enduring of the new hellish weights I currently had attached to my body. For a week, we've been doing this every god damn morning, and when I finally finished two laps around the village, I was forced to do taijutsu training, or kenjutsu training, or ninjutsu! IT WAS HELL!
He was right in calling it hell. Here I thought the training before was hard! Fuck that, I take it all the fuck back!
"You're nearly there." He informed me, I felt the tears of happiness swell in my eyes at seeing the red cloth tied around the tree indicating the end of my torturous run.
It was like the light of heaven was greeting me.
I passed it, and I felt like the gate of heaven had opened. I immediately face planted on the grass, not giving a shit for the pain in my nose. It'd heal.
My lungs burned each time I took a deep breath, and I was blessed to have three water bottles rolled to my face. Then it hit me that I'd have to move to be able to drink the heavenly liquid sealed within the bottles.
There wasn't a muscle in my body that didn't ache like hell. But if I wanted to drink it before Kuroi was to put me into another hell, I needed to move now.
This was my mission! To sit up and drink the water!
...
I can't move.
Shiiiit.
"Come on, Kuroki." Kuroi nudged me lightly. I groaned in protest. "After today, you get to have a week of rest. Can't have you overdoing it, can I?"
"I'm overdoing it now, aren't I?" I muttered, taking a deep breath before pulling myself up. My muscles groaned in protest, but I managed to sit on my sore ass and grab the water bottles.
"Your muscles are in pain," He started. I muttered a 'no shit'. "I'd rather not have you tear something you're not meant to. You're a lot more tolerant of this training than previous people I've trained, so after today, you'll get a massage, some compression garments. Then after a week, we continue the training and repeat the cycle until your muscles are completely used to the harsh training. That sound good?"
I downed the last bottle, sighing in relief as I wiped my lips. "Yeah. Makes sense."
"Alright, stand up."
Despite how much I didn't want to, I forced myself to stand.
I moved my fingers, cracked my neck and closed my eyes. "I want to also work on your genjutsu skills." I glanced at Kuroi who stood in front of me. "More like how to sense and disperse the genjutsu, since that's basically your weak point. You barely use genjutsu in the first place, and I doubt it's going to be in your fighting style."
I nodded, curling my lip when I felt pain in my neck. "Can your..."
"Jin?" I asked, cracking my back with painful effort.
"Yeah." Kuroi nodded. "Can he see the illusions that are placed in your mind by a genjutsu?"
I paused. "I wonder."
'I would say so...yes...in numerous trainings you've had with genjutsu...I've always been able to sense them and render them useless if I wanted...'
I looked back to Kuroi, who had been waiting. "He says he can." I informed him, titling my head.
Kuroi rubbed his chin in thought. "That'll certainly be helpful...but I want to be able to have you be able to sense it and break it yourself too..."
"Alright!" I flinched at him. "It's time to train your senses whilst their in a over tired state."
"Shit."
The mocking laughter of Jin caused me to sneer.
"Welcome back, Kuroi-kun! Kuroki-chan!" Aonami cheerfully greeted her family as the entered the lounge that was in the same area as the kitchen.
Sasuke watched Kuroki from the couch as she tiredly trudged to the fridge. He frowned as she hit her head against the door instead of immediately opening it.
Since their little exchange at the table that morning, they hadn't really conversed. It's only been a week, but that was more than what either of them were used to, being without each other. They had an unspoken agreement between them.
They needed to focus on becoming stronger.
When they passed each other in the halls, they brushed fingers together, but never stopped moving forward to their location.
When they thought the other wasn't looking, they'd stare. Everyday, they'd both come home looking like crap, covered in dirt, blood and bruises.
"Welcome home, Kuroki." The Uchiha muttered, staring at the silver dog running up to the unique kunoichi.
She glanced at him, and their eyes connected. A small smile graced her lips before she looked away.
He closed his eyes.
He needed to become stronger.
That was his goal; to become stronger for Kuroki, for Itachi, but especially for himself.
I sighed in content as Aonami gave me an amazing massage.
"Why does he push you so hard?" Aonami sighed as she massaged me. "Look at all the scars on your body, Kuroki-chan."
"Rather not." I muttered absently, a small smile on my face. "This is incredibly comforting..."
Aonami laughed softly. "You're still beautiful, though. No matter what. I'll always be proud of you."
"Thanks, mum..." I sighed, feeling myself about to fall asleep.
"Go to sleep, sweety." She ran a hand through my hair affectionately. "I'll relax your muscles."
"You're awesome..." I muttered before letting the darkness consume me.
Jin stood before me, darkness surrounding us. He had an amused grin on his face as he walked towards me.
'Having fun, Kuroki...?' He teased me, causing me to growl lightly, sitting down and watching as my surroundings turned into the sea view, where I sat at the cliff again. The night had replaced the day, and the moon was high and full. I could hear the sounds of the waves crashing against the rocks.
He sat beside me, but I moved forward, my legs now dangling over the edge. It was childish, but I felt like being childish.
'Aw, Kuroki...' I looked over my shoulder, poking my tongue at him, then turned my head back out to the view of the sea. 'Don't neglect me like that...it hurts...'
"Like hell it does." I muttered, before yelping in surprise when his arms grabbed my shoulders and pulled me back. I closed my eyes instinctively, only to open them and see the amused eyeless face of Jin looking down at me.
My head was resting in his lap, apparently. I frowned at him, before sighing. I relaxed as he massaged my temples. 'You have a lot of stress building up...'
"Yeah, well...there's an invasion by a sannin coming in less than a month..." I replied softly. "How many people are going to die, I wonder..."
'You've informed the Hokage about it...I'm sure there are going to be less deaths...on our side...' Jin replied, the feel of blood lust was pulsing. I reached up and grabbed a bunch of his messy bangs.
"It'll still be more than I would like." I sighed. "We'll make sure to kill a bunch of our enemies, won't we?"
Jin grinned. I had to admit that this grin was a lot more attractive when he looked like this.
'Thank you...' He thanked me, having already read my thoughts. I scoffed softly.
After what felt like a few minutes, I woke up.
I groaned as I sat up, finding myself in my bed. I turned to look out the window, the sun almost blinding me.
The ache in my muscles had subsided somewhat, but they still hurt. I looked down to see the compression garments laid on the empty side of my bed. They were black.
I picked up the ones they looked like thigh high socks, then glanced to the others. A pair for the arms and one for my torso to my ass. I wonder why they didn't just give me a full body compression suit thing.
Shrugging, I crawled off the bed leisurely, then went to my closet to find a pair of clothes to wear for the day. Deciding on the black turtleneck with the sleeves that were also makeshift gloves, along with the baggy dark grey pants which were loose around my thighs then became tight around my shins. Works out.
I grabbed a roll of bandages from my desk, and grabbed a pair of black boxer briefs meant for women. They were damn comfy. Grabbing the compression garments, I opened the door with my free hand. Since it was probably around ten or eleven, more than likely everyone was awake. I was glad I got to sleep in.
I decided on a bath today.
After my relaxing and soothing bath, I got dressed for the day. Bound my breasts with the bandages, put on my briefs, the compression garments, clothes. The compression garments helped. I sighed happily as I made my way downstairs, running a hand through my damp hair.
Walking into the kitchen, I saw Aonami outside doing the laundry from the window. I smiled when I saw Kuroi beside her, looking uncomfortable being made to put up the laundry, and Aonami laughing in his face with Shiruba barking at him.
I walked out of the house after finding some breakfast to eat. I walked back in upon remembering I wasn't wearing shoes. I then paused.
I looked at my feet that were currently covered by the compression stocking things. I sighed, making my way back to my black ninja sandals.
I then left the house with my shoes on, deciding that walking around would both help my aching muscles and my boredom. I placed my hands in the pockets of my pants as I trudged leisurely through the village, a few villagers greeting me as I passed them.
The streets were already bustling with different kinds of people, but it was amusing no matter how crowded it was, there was barely any pushing or shoving.
"I wasn't expecting to see you here." I paused when I heard a familiar voice behind me. I turned, and smiled when I saw it was the lazy Nara.
"Shikamaru~." I greeted, walking towards him. He lazily overlooked my attire before returning his half-lidded eyes to me.
"It's been a while since I've seen you in casual clothes," He noted. "You're not training?"
I shook my head gently. "Nah, I've been given the week to rest." I grinned. "I've got compression garments under my clothes."
The Nara sighed. "And you still got them weights?"
I nodded. "My dad made me increase their weights way more than I would like, so I would rather not move faster than a jog today." Tilting my head at him, I asked, "So what are you doing? Aren't you meant to be training too?"
Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head, looking lazily up at the sky. "I'd rather not...it's such a drag."
I scoffed, before turning around. "Care to join me for a leisurely walk around, Nara?" I asked, looking over my shoulder at him. He smirked slightly before stepping beside me as I resumed my walk.
"It's been a while since we've hung out, huh?" I asked, looking up at the sky as we strolled around.
"Yeah...we've been so busy lately. With the chuunin exams and all," The Nara sighed. "It's all so troublesome."
I agreed, and we fell into a comfortable silence, soon finding ourselves at the park the rest of the gang and us would hang out at. There were all different kinds of people around, and they all seemed happy. There was the bench we normally sat at, the shade of the leaves over it made it a likeable place to sit.
I found a small hill behind the tree, and found it to be a more suitable spot to chill at. Shikamaru seemed to have found it too, and we looked to each other before walking towards the small hill, our steps in sync.
A sigh escaped me as I sat on the hill, the leaves giving us shade but not blocking off our view to the clouds. Shikamaru laid back, using his arms as a makeshift pillow. I crossed my legs, watching the clouds pass by.
It was nice, being able to chill with someone and not having to make conversation every five minutes. We could just be in a comfortable silence together and enjoy each other's company. That's what so likeable about Shikamaru.
Soon, I laid back, using my arms as a makeshift pillow.
"That one looks like a monkey." He commented, I looked through the clouds, smiling slightly when I saw the cloud that looked a little like Naruto.
"Definitely does." I laughed softly.
Silence ensued around us again for a few minutes before Shikamaru spoke up again.
"...How are you and Sasuke?"
I closed my eyes, then rolled on my side and facing Shikamaru, using my arm to cushion my head before opening my eyes again. He glanced at me, before rolling to the side so we were facing each other. He had the same chilled face that he always had, letting me take my time with my answer.
"There's...an unspoken agreement between us..." I looked at the grass in front of me. "That we'll both focus on getting stronger."
Shikamaru rolled back onto his back, looking up. "Is strength really worth it...?" He asked.
I sighed, rolling onto my back again. "Sometimes, it's the only thing that keeps us going. We're going to need it, Shikamaru." The tone in my voice caused the Nara to look at me.
"There's something coming on the day of the third round." I looked at Shikamaru. "Just be prepared for whatever."
For about three hours, Shikamaru and I laid on the small hill under the shade of the tree, watching the clouds and make small talk here and there.
It was peaceful.
When we had to part ways, I decided to finally visit Sakura.
Before I could even knock on the door to her house, it burst open and revealed a girl with pink hair who had a wild look in her green eyes.
"Shit." I cursed, before I was forced into her house and ushered to her room. I quickly greeted her eccentric looking parents before sitting down on her icky coloured bed.
"That was quick." I blinked, looking from the pinkette to her desk, which had various papers of plants and medical stuff. She turned and placed her hand on her lips.
"Why didn't you come here sooner?!" She demanded as I removed my shoes and crossed my legs on her bed, cringing slightly at the aches still plaguing my muscles.
"I was training." I replied honestly. "And I would've guessed Ino would visit you sometime soon."
Sakura plopped down onto her desk chair, facing me. A sigh left her lips. "She came about a day after. She said that she passed the preliminaries-"
"By default of Choji forfeiting." I interrupted, causing her to frown at me. I raised my hands.
"And that you and her are competing in the third round!" She finished excitedly. I sighed.
"She mustn't be happy about that." I responded dully.
"She wasn't." Sakura said. "She was pretty damn unhappy about it. She said you killed your opponent in the prelims!"
I curled my lip in distaste at the memory of that horrid female I 'fought'. "I did." I admitted willingly. "Someone needed to stop her from stealing our oxygen."
Pinkette looked at me with disapproval. I shrugged at her. "Ino said that you seemed...kind of scary. You laughed after killing her?"
"I am an intimidating person, to some extent, Sakura."
"Ino also said that..." I tilted my head at her, her eyes staring intently at the carpet as she fidgeted. "That your chakra signature felt different. Like there was something else there mixing with it yet not."
"Oh, yeah." I looked up. "I forgot that Ino's a sensory type." Sakura looked up at me.
"Just...don't hurt her too badly, okay?" I waved a dismissive hand at her.
"She's probably working her ass off with taijutsu anyways. She knows I'm like Lee, to a less youthful degree." I replied, grinning at the thought of myself being 'youthful'. I closed my eyes at the memory of his fight with Gaara.
"I heard about Lee-san too..." I opened my eyes, glancing at her. She looked down sadly. "I saw him at the hospital as well...he was trying to get up again..."
"Damn..." I whistled, impressed.
"I really hope he recovers..." I saw the small blush appear on her cheeks.
"Did you give him flowers like girlies normally do?" I teased, leaning against the wall beside her bed. She snapped her head up to me.
"How'd you know!" She demanded furiously, her face now lit up in red.
I laughed, holding my stomach in pain as my abdominal muscles ached with each movement.
"Agh, the pain! Ugh..."
"Kuroki! Have you been overworking your muscles again?!"
"No...this is the first time I've felt such hellish pain...blame my father...he threw explosive tags at me when I wouldn't run around the whole village..." I groaned, now laying down on Sakura's bed and holding my stomach.
"You're the reason I've been hearing explosions for the past week?" Sakura asked, taken aback.
"Not my fault..." I muttered, turning over and curling into a ball.
By the time I left Sakura's house, it had gotten dark. I had dinner over her place, but became a little child when I saw the vegetables on the plate. Sakura almost force fed me until her parents told her not to. Bless them and their strange hairstyles. But vegetables.
Over around twenty years of mental age and I still hate vegetables.
Fuck yeah.
I found a place that had a giant fish on its roof and decided to chill on the giant metal fish's tail. After finally making my way up to it, (my reluctance to feel aching muscles was influencing my reluctance,) I sighed as I sat down and crossed my legs, finding out that it was the perfect place to sit if you wanted to see a close up of the moon.
I stared at the moon for an unknown period of time when I was interrupted by an annoyed presence behind me. I turned, and blinked in mild surprise to find a certain red head with foam green eyes staring intently at me.
The first thing that came to my mind was; "So, do you like staring at me because you still haven't figured me out yet?"
His eyes narrowed at me. I smiled at him. "Want to sit, Gaara?" I asked, leaning back as I looked up at him.
"Leave, Taidana." He ordered, but I scoffed.
"I quite like it here." I replied, tilting my head at him. "While it may be tempting to just kill me off right now, you know that there are ANBU around, soo...just sit, already."
He locked eye contact with each other for about a minute or so, before he conceded and sat down, his back facing the moon. He sat a lot closer than I thought he would, with only metre or two distance between us.
I resumed to staring at the moon again, finding it unlikely that he'd want to converse with me.
Despite the odds, it seems he decided to talk.
"Why?"
I turned to him. He wasn't looking at me. "Why what?" I questioned, tilting my head.
He remained silent for a few moments before his eyes shifted to me. I didn't look away.
"Why do you want to be friends with me...? It doesn't make sense. I want to kill you. I want to tear you apart...but you still continue to want to be my friend."
That...was probably the most I've ever heard him say without me saying anything. Like, whoa.
I looked back at the moon. "Why...?" I muttered. "Would you believe me if I told you that the reason I want to be friends with you..." I turned back to Gaara. "Is simply because I don't want you to be alone anymore?"
His eyes did its usual thing when I was involved; widening. "You're...probably like Naruto, you know."
"The blonde idiot?"
I smiled. "When he was younger, everyone in the village shunned him. Cursed him for being alive, and he never knew why." I sighed, looking up at the brilliant light on the moon. "He tried to connect with people, but they shut him out. To gain their attention, he would always to do pranks and get himself in trouble. He eventually got some friends. Me, Sasuke, Sakura, Choji, Shikamaru, Kiba...he had friends who didn't let him be lonely anymore. Are you understanding my sappy story, Gaara?" I grinned, leaning back and using my arms to cushion my head, taking a glance at the sand nin who could no longer look at me. Even though he had no eyebrows, I could see he was frowning. It was slight, but there was the trace of guilt in his features. Surprised, I sat up, albeit slowly and crawled towards Gaara.
His eyes darted towards me the moment I came closer. Although his eyes were narrowed, he never moved away the closer I came. I stopped in front of him, crossing my legs again. He side was facing me as I faced him, but his eyes were on me instead of ahead.
I peered curiously in them, but he looked away, frowning. "What is wrong with you?"
I grinned at him. "A lot of things. What's wrong with you?"
"...A lot of things."
The response caused me to snicker. "See? We're more alike than you thought."
"I don't laugh like you. I don't smile like you. I can't be happy like you." I blinked at the red head in surprise at his depressing statements. He was frowning at me. I leaned forward, raising a hand slowly up to Gaara's face. I was planning on poking him before he grabbed my wrist firmly. I wasn't sure if he was trying to crush my wrist or not since my weights were still there.
"What are you doing?" He questioned with a tone of intimidation. I smiled innocently at him.
"Showing you that you exist." Gaara blinked. "You're touching me, aren't you? You're not a ghost, man. Despite how much it may seem impossible, there's going to be a time where you're going to smile, where you're going to be happy. I'm not sure about laughing because you seem way to serious for that." His eyes narrowed at my while I laughed. "May not make sense now, but it will. I'm pretty sure it will. I wonder if I even make sense, though."
"You annoy me."
I sighed. "I know. I guess I'll take my leave before you try to kill me, huh?" I began to stand up, only to be pulled down again. I blinked at the hand still firmly wrapped around my wrist. "Uh...Gaara?"
I stared at the red head who stared ahead for a while, curious as to what exactly he was thinking.
"Stay."
My eyes widened. "I'm sorry, what?" Annoyed eyes darted towards me.
"Were you listening? Stay." It kind of seemed like he was trying to scare me into staying.
Unable to comprehend what was happening, I situated myself back into a cross-legged seating position, my wrist still in his hand that rested against his knee. I blinked a few times, wondering what was happening right now.
I didn't say anything, only stared curiously at the enigmatic sand nin. Using my free hand, I propped my elbow on my knee and rested my cheek against my hand.
For a long while, neither of us said anything, and despite how much I shouldn't have, I let my guard down around him. For whatever reason, he wanted me to stay, and I decided to go with it. Maybe he was trying to make me let my guard down and kill me, but it didn't bother me so much.
"I was born a monster." My eyes darted to his face, his eyes giving off a murderous glint as he stared at at the village. I glanced to his hand that held my wrist, and saw that he was gripping me a lot harder than I would've liked if it weren't for my weights. I didn't reply.
"I came into this world by taking the life of the woman I would've called my mother, my father attached the incarnation of sand to me by ninjutsu." My guard came back up when his eyes shifted to me. "You already know about Shukaku. How...I want to know."
I tilted my head at him. "I can't tell you that. Nothing you do will make me tell you. I'm sorry." I frowned in apology when his eyes narrowed.
"What do you know about my life, then?" He questioned, the air was getting tense now.
"I know..." I looked down, taking a deep breath. "that since you were six years old, your father has tried countless times to assassinate you..."
A sound of amusement coming from him surprised me, but when I noticed that he had an insane look in his features, it wasn't so surprising anymore. "Yes...I became to dangerous for them...ahaha...by the time I was six, I was determined too dangerous...to them...I am simply an object that they wish would disappear."
I yelped in surprise when I was pulled closer roughly, I instinctively braced myself with my left free hand on the surface we were on. My eyes were wide when I realised that Gaara's face was only inches away not. There was a deranged look in his eye, and a feral grin on his lips.
"So why do you continuously try to befriend me?!" He demanded. "You apparently seem to know that I exist to kill every other human being besides myself! That includes you! Yet you come near me! You don't fear me at all!" His face suddenly scrunched up in anger as his voice became louder. "What's your purpose?! Are you trying to get my guard down so you can assassinate me too?! Is this a new method to try and kill me?!" Sand began to leak out of his gourd and slowly surround me the more excited he seemed to get. I kept a straight face.
"I'm not trying to kill you, Gaara." I replied calmly. My eyelids dropped down half way when I felt the sand slowly wrap around my neck.
"Why aren't you afraid!?" He growled, pulling my wrist closer and forcing me to kneel instead of sit cross-legged. "I could kill you right now!"
I looked down at the moving sand surrounding me, merely hovering around me threateningly. "I'm not that sure really..." I admitted, smiling slightly before looking up at him. I raised my free hand and ever so slowly, went to touch his face. He watched it intently, but never moved. When I actually touched his cheek, his eyes darted to my face. "Actually..." I closed my eyes when sudden flashes of my past life abruptly appeared. I opened them again, slowly. "A long time ago...I think I felt the exact way you did."
Gaara's eyes widened at me, but I spoke again before he could accuse me of lying. "I used to wonder what my purpose in life was...and when I joined these people, they showed me how...amazing it was to hurt people who tried to hurt me, to see the fear in their eyes. I thought that it was my purpose to bring these people death, to kill them so I would be able to feel that much better for myself. Maybe it doesn't make sense. My entire existence right now doesn't make sense...but Gaara." I smiled at him softly, before dropping my hand from his face. "I want you to see that it's not all about the killing and all that. Your purpose in life is so much bigger than that. So much so." I then looked to the side. "God, I'm shit at motivational speeches, it's embarrassing." Unfortunately, I think he heard me mutter that.
I was pinned down with a scrutinizing gaze of a certain red head before the sand around me began to seep back into the gourd. My wrist was finally released from his grasp, to which I thankfully pulled back to me. He dropped his gaze from me and looked ahead, his face returning to his usual poker face.
"You are too..." He didn't finish as his eyes shifted back to mine. To my surprise, he raised a hand and touched the mark under my eye with his finger. "I wish to figure you out, Taidana Kuroki. But something tells me killing you wouldn't do me any good."
I grinned sheepishly. "Definitely not. You'd have a lot of enemies who would be able to kill you if you did. Which I don't want."
He dropped his hand and sighed as he closed his eyes. I looked around, and felt that maybe I had been around for a lot longer than I originally thought.
"I think I'll have to take my leave now." I stated, standing up. I looked down to share eye contact with the red head and grinned. "It was nice chatting with you, Gaara. I'll see you another time."
I waved him goodbye before turning and stretching. My muscles ached in protest, but I wanted to be able to get home quickly. I glanced over my shoulder to find Gaara staring at the hand he used to grab my wrist with, and quickly looked away when he was shifted his gaze to me. I prepared myself, and jumped, making my way home.
A sigh escaped me when I finally came home through my window, dropping down onto my bed in a plop. I glanced to clock sitting on the desk across the room. In bright numbers, it said 9:37 PM. Well, shit.
I was with him longer than I thought. Crossing my legs on my bed, I leaned against the window, the wind brushing against me as I rested my head against the frame.
Gaara was...kind of unpredictable, like really. But now that I thought back on it...my past life was a little similar to his. Because for a majority of the time, I was alone.
I only needed myself. My family wasn't a family...I found joy in hurting others, finding meaning in it. Then I met them...they changed the way I thought. Made me appreciate everything they gave me.
I died for them. And I ended up here. I sighed, closing my eyes. What were they doing now? Did they hate me for sacrificing myself? Or were they laughing at my pitiful existence, never actually having given a shit? Unfortunately, I couldn't find myself to care that much anymore.
My life was here now. With Aonami. Kuroi. Sasuke. Shiruba.
Grabbing a nearby pillow, I hugged it, bringing my knees up to my chest as I dropped onto my side on the bed. Things were becoming so much more complicated than I would've liked.
Orochimaru was only one of many problems I'd have to face. What would I become in the end? What's going to happen to me? To Sasuke. To everyone.
'Kuroki...' I felt the familiar sensation of a shiver when I heard his voice, but simply looked over my shoulder to find his dark form leaning against the window frame, the moonlight darkening his already dark features.
"You're the reason for those flashes earlier." I immediately accused lazily, rolling around the bed to get comfortable. Jin chuckled as he looked down at me.
'You wanted to convince him...I only gave you a little help...' He replied softly, moving from the window to my bed. I looked up at him as he placed a hand near my head, my hair entangled in his clawed fingers. His face hovered above mine as I tightened my grip on the pillow.
"Thank you." I simply muttered, lowering my eyelids half way as I looked up at him. He pushed the pillow off of my body, causing me to glance down and see my chest calmly rise and fall.
'My dear Kuroki...' His other hand slowly hovered over my right leg, before he softly dragged his finger up my body from my leg. My abdominals clenched as his finger went over them, soon stopping above my heart, which was just under my breast. Resting his hand there, I closed my eyes at the sensation of his chakra flowing into me again. Despite the fact that we were bonded, I've never accessed his entire chakra pool, meaning that he was a lot stronger than what he gave off at the forest of Death. That worried me a little.
My ear twitched when I felt his breath touch it. I opened my eyes to see his face was much closer, his bangs brushing against my face. 'I'd do anything to help you...'
I reached up and cupped his cheeks, tilting my head. "Don't mislead me, Jin." I stated softly. "You know that I have doubts about whether or not that if you were given something better than me, you'd leave me in a heart beat."
To my surprise, the smile on his lips faltered slightly. The muscles where his eyebrows would be were down in a slight frown. Before I knew it, I was being straddled by the dark creature. His hand retracted from above my chest, moving up to my neck and caressing it. I flinched at the sensation.
'I know...' His wispy voice sounded almost solemn. 'I want you to know...that if I hadn't stayed with you all these years...I would've left for something better...' I frowned slightly, but understood. I wouldn't stick around if there was something better waiting for me.
'But I have...and that makes all the difference...' I squirmed under him as I felt that invading strong shiver jolting through my body. 'How ironic of me...'
I frowned at Jin in confusion. He was acting strangely. I stared at him in confusion when his other hand disentangled itself from my hair and used his thumb to trace my lips. 'I forgot what it felt like...having these human emotions...it seems like ever since I've become bonded to you...I've been...acquiring certain emotions I had forgotten I once possessed...'
I blinked in surprise. Soon, Jin's smile strengthened. 'There's nothing better than being bonded with you...Kuroki-chan...'
The sincerity in his words pierced through me like a spear. I was at a loss for words for more than a few seconds. Jin took this chance to run his hands through my hair, causing my to instinctively relax and sigh in content at the feeling. 'Don't doubt me anymore, Kuroki...' I frowned at the way his voice sounded so upset like a child would, but soon relaxed again at the sensation of his hand running through my hair.
"Fiiine. I won't, okay? Happy?" The sly grin forming on his lips gave me my answer.
'Very...'
And then he was gone. I made a sound of disapproval when his hands were no longer running through my hair. Sighing, I sat up and removed my shoes, throwing them on the floor.
My eyes shifted to the door as it opened, the hall light seeping into my dark room. In came Shiruba, who I smiled happily at as he jumped on the bed and licked my face.
"Hey, my lovely." I greeted him, playing with his ears affectionately as he barked in reply. I looked up when I sat Sasuke leaning against the door frame, his arms folded and his eyes were on the dog before making their way to mine. There was an awkward silence between us before I decided to greet him with a 'hi'.
"You smell like him." Whoa. I blinked as he stated those words, his eyes narrowed slightly.
"Who?" I automatically asked, tilting my head as Shiruba whined and laid on the bed.
"Gaara." Sasuke replied stoically. I looked down at myself, but then shrugged. "Kakashi's been honing my senses like crazy." He informed me. That explains the scary amount of sensitivity he suddenly gained.
"I had a chat with the red head." I replied enigmatically, catching the dark look in the Uchiha's eyes. I waved a dismissive hand. "It was really just a chat. With some magical sand threatening to strangle me to death." I muttered, regretting it when I remembered his newly enhanced senses.
"You're something else, Kuroki." Sasuke sighed, before turning and beginning to walk out. He stopped, looking over his shoulder at me. "Goodnight."
"Night." I replied, smiling as Sasuke gently closed the door. I'm glad we could talk as if nothing was wrong.
I looked down at Shiruba, who tilted his head up at me. "Fuck changing clothes. This shit is comfortable." I grinned as Shiruba barked.
"Time to go to bed, yeah? I wonder what's going to happen tomorrow."
To my utter surprise, for the rest of the week, Gaara and I had seemed to be running into each other more and more, and what made me grin happily was that his tolerance of me seemed to expand.
"What's your favourite colour?" I asked, laying back on the giant metal fish Gaara seemed to fancy with my arms behind my head. I watched the clouds as Gaara sat somewhere near my head.
"I don't have one." He replied after a long moment of silence. I looked up at him as he glanced to me.
I rolled onto my stomach, feeling much better since my muscles didn't hurt anymore. I stared up at him.
"Do you enjoy my company?" I asked randomly. He seemed to frown at me, before looking ahead and away from me.
He didn't answer.
"Do you enjoy mine?" He suddenly asked, making me blink a few times in process. He looked back at me.
"No matter how many times I tell you to go away, you keep coming back."
"Hey, you and I somehow have been running into each other coincidentally for the past week, which surprises me greatly." I replied with a grin. "What also surprises me is that you seem to tolerate my presence."
"I could kill you at any time." He reminded me, but I simply smiled and rolled on my back.
"Yeah, yeah. What's your favourite food?"
"Salted tongue and gizzard." He replied after a shorter time of silence.
I frowned. "They sound...gross." I muttered in distaste.
"Why do you ask so many questions about me?"
"Maybe I want to get to know you, Gaara." I retorted with a frown, rolling over again and facing the red head. He frowned at me.
"Why?"
"You like asking that particular question a lot." I noted.
"You are a strange being, Taidana Kuroki. One day, I will fight you and kill you, but I will figure you out before then." Gaara announced, his killing intent rising.
"You're strange yourself, you know." I blinked when I remembered something from our first meeting. "By the way, why did you seem surprised when I mentioned my last name?"
He stared at me before looking away. "Taidana is a well-known name in Sunakagure." He informed me, intriguing me in the process. I sat up, crossing my legs placing my hands in my lap. "There is a man there, he is of the fallen Taidana Clan. He has similar features to you," His eyes roamed over my appearance, the analysation making me slightly uncomfortable. "He's strong, I wish to kill him, but he always evades me."
"Interesting." I replied. "I'd have to meet him sometime. Give me a tour of Suna when I go there one time?" I grinned, leaning forward. His eyes narrowed at me before looking away.
"You'll be dead before you can." He merely whispered, but I could thankfully hear him. Sighing, I stood up, and stretched.
"Well, anyways. It was nice chilling with you." I grinned at him before getting ready to leave. "Later." I waved at him before bending my knees and pushing off the surface, jumping up.
I landed safely on a nearby roof, glancing back at the red head atop the metal fish. He and I made eye contact before I smiled and turned away, jumping off this roof and to another, repeating the process.
I noticed that I was a lot slower when I jumped, and it took more effort since my weights were weighing me down. Instead of lightening the load, I kept the overly heavy weights at the same weight, knowing that I'd improve at nothing if I were to slack off.
Thankfully, I was slowly, slowly adjusting to them. Well, anyways. Time to visit Kiba.
Gaaara of the FUUUNK. Yeah, sorry. It just came into my head. BUT YEAH, some Gaara development. Please excuse the OOCness. I was like; should I change it...? Should I not...? But I decided to be a bad author and be lazy and not do that. And there's some distance between Kuroki and Sasuke. MY READERS. This is the chance to voice your preferences of who you want to do get some development with Kuroki. Like, seriously. I already did some Gaara shit. So you know.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed. I enjoyed making Kuroi as demon and blowing shit up. The similarities he has with his daughter. Reviews~, Reviews~.