*This next chapter gets pretty trippy…okay, well trippy isn't really the right word…more like just a little bit out there. Yeah, you'll know what I'm talking about when you get there. Anyway, I graduated! Ha! Fuck you high school, I'm outta here. Anyway, this is for all my reviewers. You guys are the icing on the justice cake! Yeah…okay it's like 3 a.m. and I'm just a bit loopy (weird since I stay up this late on a regular basis). Well, please enjoy!
P.S.
I'm gonna actually have to start writing soon, so I don't get too ahead of myself with these 2-day or so updates.
WARNING: Any medical knowledge that Kaiser attempts to portray is actually butchered information that she received from high school level Anatomy, high school level Psychology, and the Discovery Channel.
I sincerely apologize to any med students out there who spend this time laughing their asses off.
Chapter 9: Present- Gaara's Wound
Neji awoke from the most wonderful dream, a memory. His body hurt like hell, but at least the dream had been lovely.
He felt warm, far too warm, but still, he was also being held by someone, someone familiar and breathtaking. He managed to open his eyes a sliver.
Lee.
But Lee was too distracted by the situation around him to even notice that his favorite brunette was awake. Neji observed the scene as best he could.
It would seem that Gaara was refusing medical attention from Sakura.
He strained his eyes and ears so that he could figure out exactly what was happening.
"Please, Gaara-sama," admonished Sakura, "let me see your wounds." Gaara shook his head vigorously.
"Haruno-san, I would much rather you take a look at Shikamaru-kun," the Kazekage countered professionally. "Or yourself for that matter. Hyuuga-san and Naruto had to help you here." Sakura held up her hand as if to say, "Stop."
"I am a medic-nin, Gaara-sama. This is my job: to heal others. Outside of a fight, I'll save my chakra for my friends and teammates." Gaara remained resolute in his decision. He stood. "Gaara-sama, please! If you're hurt, you could be making it worse!" He began walking away, his back to Sakura.
"I don't have time for this," he muttered. "Temari and Kankuro are my first priority."
"Gaara," Lee called sternly, no honorific.
He meant business.
Lee knew Gaara inside and out. If Shikamaru was Neji's closest friend, Gaara was Lee's. He could see the redhead's subtle shaking, his rapid breathing, the sweat beading down his forehead, his exhausted eyes; the Kazekage was hanging on by a thread.
"No, Lee."
"Gaara…" He stared at his companion. He was so pale and shaky; Lee knew that look. It was something akin to Neji on his worst days. "Please."
He shook his head. "Not with…I can't let them see. They'll know what this is. I don't want them to know." Lee's onyx eyes widened.
"W-what do you mean?" he managed.
"Naruto and Sakura can't see this, Lee. They can't. It'll be too much."
"Gaara?"
"I saw this in my fight with…Sasuke…It was like this." Gaara's eyes were starting to look frantic.
"Gaara?" Lee took a step closer to Gaara.
"They can't know. I won't let them."
"Gaara?" He took another step closer.
"Lee, stop it! Don't come any closer. No one can know, especially them!"
"Gaara?" Another step.
"Dammit Lee!" Gaara finally burst out, letting out all of the anxious and frantic energy that he had been holding back since their fight with Kabuto. "They can't know! It's for them! It's for Naruto and Sakura. He already took Sasuke away from them for the same reason! If they find out the same thing's happened to me they…won't…be able to…" Gaara trailed off, realizing that Naruto and Sakura had heard his entire outburst anyway.
This time Naruto began walking over to Gaara.
"Gaara," he began, "what's this about Sasuke?" Gaara's hand covered his eye almost unconsciously. He backed away a bit.
"It's nothing…"
" 'He,' who's 'he'? 'He' took Sasuke away…do you mean Orochimaru?"
"Naruto…"
"You fought Kabuto; Orochimaru took over Kabuto." Another step closer. Another step back.
"Naruto, please…"
"What did Kabuto do, Gaara? What the hell did he do?" Gaara flinched at Naruto's shout. "The same thing as Sasuke? What's the same thing as Sasuke? Tell me! What happened to you! What'd he do?" Naruto tackled Gaara to the ground, pinning his arms. Gaara attempted to struggle, but Naruto was far stronger. "Show me your eye, Gaara!"
"No!"
"Show me your eye!" The rest of the group looked on in shock at the struggle.
"Naruto no! Stop! You can't see! Don't!"
"Show it to me!"
"No!" Then, in the blink of an eye, it was over. The aura had changed. Naruto suddenly stopped moving (though still straddling the redhead). He was completely taken aback.
He had seen it.
"Gaara," he whispered, voice simply dripping with concern. Then, he was hugging him, holding the redhead so close. "I can't believe you," he murmured. "You're so stupid! You knew it'd upset us, huh? Well, you're right! I'm pissed as hell. I'm worried, and I'm scared! But I'm glad I saw. You know why? Because when Sasuke went through this, I didn't know until it was too late, but now, with you, I found out right away. I have a chance this time."
"Naruto…" The blonde just held the Kazekage tighter.
"I'm not gonna let anything happen to you, Gaara. I'm not letting him take you too. Not you, never you."
Sakura walked over.
"Can I see?" she asked gently. Naruto moved, revealing Gaara's "wound."
Suddenly, it all made sense.
Gaara's right eye was completely wrong, to say the least. It was completely bloodshot, and the veins around the eye itself were so clear that it almost seemed as though the skin there was transparent. The iris was no longer the same bright green that he was so known for; it was a deep golden color, with a catlike slit of a pupil.
Orochimaru's eye.
It wasn't Sasuke's curse mark, but it was close enough.
Everyone but Naruto and Lee gasped, even Sai seemed stunned. Sakura looked about ready to cry.
"Sometime during the battle with Kabuto," Gaara began, ignoring the fact that the pain in his head seemed to triple once the eye was revealed. "He hit me in the eye. There…there wasn't a wound at first, but then…this ha-happen—Ah!" Gaara cried out as the pain became worse than anything he had ever felt before. Orochimaru was trying to overwhelm his mind with pain, enough to take over. He could hear the snake whispering, cackling. It took all that the redhead had not to give in.
Then, the pain dulled, dulled enough for Gaara to relax. Even the whispers stopped. Gentle hands began to caress him, tenderly massaging the wound. Someone incredibly warm was holding him. Naruto? No not Naruto. Then, who? He managed to open his good eye.
Auburn eyes.
"Sh-shika-m-maru-k-kun?" The Nara quieted the redhead with a finger to his lips.
" 'Shikamaru-kun' will take care of his Gaara," he whispered. "Take care of him forever." He kissed Gaara's scar as he had earlier. "He loves him." Gaara's eyes widened.
"N-no, Shikamaru-kun…I…you can't…you're mistaking comfort for love…I mean…you can't—no one can…"
"You're babbling," Shikamaru whispered in the redhead's ear, sounding almost hauntingly sane. He soothed the redhead's visible eye closed again. "Rest now," he continued.
Everyone watched on, astounded, as Gaara fell into a half-asleep daze.
*ShikaGaa ftw. Sorry if there're grammar mistakes. Once again, poorly proofread.
