"Tell me about your relationship with Gaara," Kakashi requested one evening over dinner.
Calixta smiled at the sound of his name. "What would you like to know?"
"Whatever you'd like to tell me," he shrugged, "I'm just curious because he actually seems to like you and, well, I won't say he doesn't care for anybody but I've never seen him show it before."
"I believe he does like me, which works out quite well because I find myself quite fond of him," she blushed at the admission.
"I had a feeling you did. You don't tend to lead people on," he commented.
"Are you concerned because of his reputation?" she asked carefully.
"Reputation?" he repeated the word carefully. To him, Gaara had more than a reputation; he had a history, something much more dangerous. Though, she had not witnessed the young sand ninja's rampage and the invasion it had allowed. "I suppose you could say that."
"That is a common reaction," she shrugged. "I've heard about some of the things he's done," she regretfully told him.
"Do his past actions bother you?"
She gave a sad little smile. "No, I can't change the past. I just fear that he has the potential to cause such pain and destruction again. It doesn't feel like he wants to, mind you, just a sort of foreboding looming over him."
"That might just be the demon in his belly," Kakashi rudely dismissed.
"Oh, I already know that's the part of him that feeling comes from. So, I really shouldn't worry about that, should I?" she mused, "The demon might be where much of his strength comes from, but the human part which contains it, that is truly strong."
"What's he like when you're together?" the older man pressed.
Calixta blushed a little more deeply, "I don't wish to keep things from you but could we talk about something else?"
"May I ask why?"
"I get a bit…fluttery when I think about him. I still feel so attuned to him that I don't know how much of my emotions he can still feel."
"Do you really think that's possible?"
"He is very sensitive, and felt me from so far before. I know, I know," she gave a dismissive hand motion, "That was an extenuating circumstance…but he hasn't let go like the others have."
"What do you mean, hasn't let go?"
"It's hard to explain. When I lost control, it was like my chakra went out in strings to those who had been receptive to me in the past. Most of those people picked it up, as it were, and followed it to me. Once they all found out what was happening, the string was dropped and the attraction was severed. With Gaara and Kankuro, it was different. Unlike those that came to my house that night, they both endured the link until it gave out on my end. At that point, I assume Kankuro shook it off but Gaara held on. He still does."
"You're saying he's got a hold on you," Kakashi surmised grimly.
She gave a silly little smile, "We have a hold on one another. I can feel some of his emotions too, but he is much better at containing them than I am. Since I have regained my control, I could sever the link if I wanted to. I'd rather not…unless you told me to. It would be very disappointing but I would understand."
"You would understand?" the older man mused.
"That doesn't mean I would try to simply put it on hold for when I was no longer your student," she half-teased.
He gave an impressed nod. "No, I wouldn't ask you to do such a thing. Actually, I think it's a positive step for both of you."
Her silly grin returned, "Oh, we have to talk about something else now or he's really gunna know I was thinking about him," she warned.
"Is that so bad?" Kakashi teasingly prompted.
"Not necessarily. But Baki-sensei already doesn't like me. I don't want to distract Gaara any more than I already do," she admitted.
From there, Kakashi let that go for the time being and changed the subject. He found her string theory to be an interesting analogy for what had happened and her affection was obviously genuine. What really piqued his attention was that she didn't want to let go. Usually, once the purpose had been served, she would have severed the connection. He wondered if it wasn't Gaara's insistence that kept her holding on but it didn't seem to matter. In fact, he was starting to suspect that at the very least, she had a crush on him.
After that, things were fairly quiet for the next few months. Every few weeks, Calixta would send a care package, as promised, to Gaara. In addition to the two little jugs of milk, she often included a short little note. Once or twice he even scribbled something back to her and smuggled it back with the empties.
Then, one day, he returned to the village of the leaf. Having quickly finished his business, he started toward Calixta's house. Though it had only been a simple messenger mission that he had volunteered for, the fact that he accepted it for the sole purpose of seeing Calixta again meant he had been assigned a partner, his sister Temari. She was almost as annoyed by the assignment as he was to have her tagging along.
"I'm not going to waste time waiting for you," Gaara told her before disappearing in the general direction of the leaf village.
With a groan of frustration, Temari started after him but wasn't able to catch up until he'd been in the village for several hours. As she followed she grumbled, cursing his slight advantage over her, the fact that he never slept.
Having delivered the message, Gaara used his extra time to find his way to Calixta's house.
As he passed one of the food carts that served sake, he overheard someone talking about her, "Yeah, that one. It's Calixta's favorite," he pointed.
Gaara suddenly appeared next to the man at the bar reminiscing about different kinds of alcohol. "You know Calixta," he said evenly.
Master Jiraiya started, "Who are you?" he asked suddenly.
"My name is Gaara. You were speaking about Calixta as though you knew her," he pointed out.
"Oh? Was I?" he feigned innocence.
"You drink with her," the young man continued.
"Is there a point to this?" the older snapped.
"I was curious, does it alter her chakra?" he asked genuinely.
"Why do you ask?" Jiraiya countered.
Before Gaara could form an answer, a little white dog came barreling up to him. It smelled his feet and licked his toes, tickling him. He gave a slight growl of displeasure and it backed off, opting instead for friendly little yaps while dancing about near his feet. Normally, he would have just kicked the damn thing but because of who he was asking about, he decided not to. He didn't want this stranger who apparently knew her to think his violent tendencies had anything to do with her.
"She likes you," Jiraiya commented with a passiveness that hid the fact that his interest had been piqued.
"What is this?" the sand ninja backed away with a confused frown. Ever since he was a child, no animal had ever liked him, let alone approached him so forwardly. They were deterred by the demon inside him.
"There you are!" Temari suddenly accused when she turned the corner to see her brother talking to a strange old man and being badgered by a little puppy dog. "What the hell is going on?"
Gaara rolled his eye at the approach of his sister and teammate and stepped away from the cart in the hope that the little dog wouldn't follow him. He was wrong. He followed him closely and then, to his surprise, when Temari started to try to lecture him about ditching her like that just to see his girlfriend, the puppy dove between them and began to bark and growl defensively at her.
"What the hell is this?" Temari reached down and grabbed the little creature by the scruff of its neck.
Again, before Gaara could answer, someone else showed up.
"Aaah! There you are! Satu!" Calixta turned the corner and gave a horrified gasp at what she saw. "Temari?"
"This your mutt?" she held it out in front of her.
Calixta glared intensely and stormed over, snatching the little pup from the harsher young woman's grasp.
"So…that's your dog?" Gaara finally spoke.
"Yes, she got away from me a few blocks over. I was really worried because she never runs off like that…but now I can see why," she grinned as she soothed her pet.
"Come on, if you already delivered that message, let's go," Temari urged.
Gaara scoffed. "You go now. I'll give you a head start so we get back home at the same time."
"You're staying?" Temari incredulously questioned.
"Did you even read the mission request?" Gaara scoffed again. "I have to take a reply back in about three days."
"Three days?" the blonde sand ninja gasped.
"Do you have room and board yet?" Calixta suddenly asked.
Gaara gave her a sly wink.
"No, we don't have arrangements yet," Temari told her.
"Well, if you go to the training office, about ten blocks that way," Calixta pointed, "they can set you up."
"Good. It's getting kind of late anyway. Come on," she motioned for Gaara to join her but he didn't. "Fine, whatever," she sighed and started off by herself.
Calixta shot Gaara a scolding look but didn't say anything.
"Ah, Calixta-san," Jiraiya suddenly entered the conversation when the commotion passed. "This young man was asking about you," he motioned.
"That's right, I never gave you my address," Calixta mused. "But that's alright, I can show you the way myself," she smiled and took his arm but then she felt the anxiety of both Gaara and Jiraiya so she backed off. "Unless you're busy right now. I can wait," she offered as she pulled away.
The sudden electricity that her touch sent through his nerves made Gaara keep her hand on his arm. "No, I'm not busy." He shot a careful and suspicious look at the older man. "Let's go," he urged.
"Good afternoon, Master Jiraiya," Calixta nodded politely as they walked off.
"You know that man?" Gaara asked knowingly.
"He's a good friend," she nodded confidently.
"How good?" he asked suspiciously.
"Do you really want to know or do you want to see how I try to answer you?" she countered playfully.
"I'll know if you're lying to me," he commented offhandedly.
"Oh? You're that confident? If you are then you might already know the answer to your question. Either way, it won't hurt to tell you that he is a lover as well as a very close friend," she told him frankly.
"He's really old," Gaara told her dismissively.
Calixta just laughed. As she did, Satu tried to sneak from her shoulder over to Gaara's, as they had become close enough for at least an attempt.
"Ugh," Gaara instinctively pulled away, making the pup stumble and whine but she didn't fall off her master. "What is with that dog?" he snapped.
"Oh, it's okay. She just likes you. Is that so bad?"
"It's…weird. Animals don't like me…" he tried.
"Ah, I understand. Well, Satu doesn't think you're so bad." She stopped and guided the creature on her shoulder down into her arms. "Here, would you like to hold her?" she offered.
He gave her an awkward look as he realized that they were drawing a fair amount of attention. He was just reaching out to take the little dog, if only so she would leave him alone about it, when Satu sprung into his arms. Gaara made a small sound of surprise but managed not to drop her.
"There. See? That's not so bad," Calixta half-teased.
"Whatever," he shrugged and started walking again. As he did, he found that the little dog settled down quite quickly to rest contently in the cradle of his left arm, his right once again occupied by Calixta.
When they got to her house and settled down for some tea, Satu still wouldn't leave Gaara's side. "So, what's the deal with your dog? Is it 'cause it's yours?"
"Is what?" she blinked curiously.
"That it likes me," he elaborated.
Calixta smiled. "That probably has something to do with it. Is she bothering you?"
A slight frown played across Gaara's lips. "No," he replied simply, only then realizing that the cuddling creature soothed him slightly. "No, she's fine."
"She's so fond of you because I am," Calixta finally elaborated.
"Really?" he quirked an odd look.
"Really," she assuredly replied.
Gaara pursed his lips for a moment, "Will she bother us if we-uh," he made a vague hand motion.
Calixta smirked. "I don't think so. Actually, she's an excellent guard dog," she winked.
A moment later, Gaara was on Calixta, pinning her to the floor next to the short tea table. She made a small sound of surprise as the wind was knocked out of her and gave the young man above her a dazed look. He grinned and captured her parted lips with his own, noting that the tea was sweeter when he tasted it off her lips.
"So hungry," she gasped from the way he nipped at her lips and greedily groped her curves.
When he opened her shirt, he took a moment to examine her scar. "It's almost gone," he marveled.
"So attentive," she half-joked.
He shot a suspicious look upward and when their eyes met, he could tell something was different. "What are you doing?" he asked carefully.
"What you wanted the last time you were here. I'm telling you what kinds of feelings I get from you. I was too weak even after the drugs started to wear off to do this for you," she told him seriously.
His heart skipped a beat. That was one portion of their last night together that he had almost forgotten. He hadn't asked her to do it because he wanted to hear what she had to say. He asked because he wanted to see if she could do it at the time; it was a test of her intoxication. "Oh? What else then?" he managed.
"I'm surprised you want to hear this…having your feelings put to words makes you very uncomfortable," she replied.
"Then don't tell me," he shrugged. "Like you said last time, we both know how I feel."
She studied him for a moment. "It still makes you unsure. Why would telling you something you already know make you feel that way?" she pressed.
"Hn," he lightly scoffed. "At least I know I can keep some things from you."
She gave a perplexed little laugh in response. "If you're as in tune with me as I think, you should be able to do the same for me," she tried.
He actually took a few seconds to think that over. Sure, he knew how she felt but he wasn't sure he had the words to describe what he was feeling from her. Regardless, he gave it a try. "You're…eager," he managed.
She gave a wide smile. "What else?" she prompted.
"And…giddy," he added, now also perplexed. It wasn't a word he often used but he couldn't think of a better one. On top of that, it wasn't something he had been expecting to feel.
"See? You're better at this than I thought," she half-teased.
"And…I can feel…a strange warmth," he continued.
"And you're getting excited by this," she chimed in.
"You're just antagonizing me now," he pinned her to the floor again with a mischievous grin.
"And you like it," she retorted smartly.
Suddenly, they both burst out laughing. Their laughter only lasted a short while but it was enough to break the tension and give Gaara the confidence to act once again.
"You like being dominant without having to use force," she commented breathily.
He snickered a little at that. It was true but he wasn't sure if he could truly dominate this person. To Gaara, dominance meant being able to do whatever he felt like doing without consequence. At this point in their relationship, he was realizing that if she really didn't want him to do something, he most likely wouldn't or if he did, it wouldn't give him the pleasure he sought.
"Can I hurt you this time? Give you pain? A few cuts and bruises as you gave me last time?" he asked darkly and to his surprise, it caused her pause.
"You wouldn't enjoy that," she managed to answer.
"Oh? Are you sure?" he pressed.
"You can try it, if that's what you really want," she offered but he could sense her reluctance.
He gave her points for being willing to do that for him but he was still a little disturbed by her reluctance, which felt like a wave being held back from crashing on the beach. "Does it really mean that much to you that I don't?" he asked incredulously as he finished undressing her.
"It means a lot to me to be able to give you what you desire…but if I am in pain, we are so close, you will feel it too," she replied carefully.
"Tch, you think I can't handle pain?" he scoffed.
"I know you can…it's just that…I'm not sure if I can. At the very least, it would…give me anxiety that would interfere, even diminish, the lovely feelings we're already sharing."
"You're stronger than you think," he told her evenly, lifting one of her legs to give her a rather hard spank on the meat of her ass.
Calixta yelped and ineffectually jerked away. Her reaction made Gaara smile. Sure, he could feel the stinging he had caused her but the flush that rushed across her body from it more than made up for that. "You're testing me," she gaspingly replied.
"Oh?" he replied distractedly before delivering another spank. He hadn't realized it until she pointed it out to him but in a way, he was testing her limits.
This time, the sound she made was a sharp gasp as she kicked ineffectually to get away from him. She only managed to wiggle around until she was face down, which helped very little for getting away. Being able to sense the lack of conviction behind her attempts to break free made Gaara even bolder, delivering about ten more spanks in roughly the same spot. After that, he felt her wince with a genuine discomfort that threatened to override her pleasure. So, he stopped.
When he relented, Calixta stopped struggling and took a moment to try to catch her breath. "You…stopped…" she panted. It was strange, she knew he had gotten pleasure from the slight bit of pain he had caused her, something that should have encouraged him to continue. She could only reason that he had enough of her energy in his system to counteract that effect, or at least dull it enough for him to let up on her.
"You weren't enjoying it as much," he smugly replied as he leaned down to gently plant a 'get better' kiss on the abused spot, the raised red portions taking on roughly the size and shape of his hand.
She moaned at the small affection and rolled her hips a little. Again, her responses made him bolder. This time, he opened his mouth and bit down hard on the round flesh of her ass. She practically screamed, but it was just as much in ecstasy as it was in pain, possibly more. She was feeling the opposite of the effect that was holding Gaara back; the pleasure he got from her pain spilled a little more into her each time he lashed out at her. He nearly broke skin when he finally let up.
This time, as she caught her breath, Calixta also took a few seconds to look at her lover. When she looked over her shoulder, however, she was not rewarded with her much desired eye contact. He was too busy admiring the perfect teeth marks in her perfect, if rosy, skin.
"You would let me mark you up, wouldn't you?" he inquired almost accusingly.
She felt the threatening tremor in his voice and it made her heart skip a beat. "Only as far as you would," she replied strangely, realizing that soon their energies would reach an equilibrium and that would be the breaking point. Either he would push too far, most likely out of morbid curiosity, and she would have to push him away, or he would let them settle into the rhythm they were heading toward and things would go more smoothly from there.
"So you would then," he surmised.
"Why…I can sense that this fascinates you…please, tell me why?" she had to better understand what she was getting herself into.
He didn't like the idea of having to justify his motives or feelings but in this instance, he felt compelled to at least try to answer her. "I want to see how much pain you can take, how much you can handle before your fragile little body gives out," he taunted.
"But for what purpose?" she nearly pleaded.
The real answer was that deep down, Gaara didn't want to cause her actual pain. He was testing her limits so that once they really got into it, he would know her boundaries. It was a disturbing notion for him because most of the time, in his mind, there were two kinds of people: those who were worth killing and those who were too worthless to care about. This person was not worthless but at the same time, he wouldn't seriously consider killing her.
As these thoughts raced through Gaara's mind, Calixta started to look up at him with wide-eyed astonishment, almost as though she had been slapped in the face. "You're being protective of me," she accused even though she didn't entirely understand what it meant, sitting up so she could face him.
"Protective?" he scoffed. "I just wanna see what you can handle now before I cut loose on you," he teased. "It's not something I want to have to worry about while you're screaming in ecstasy just for me."
His tone, dark but somehow sweet, sent an almost violent shiver through her, and subsequently him. It happened again when his eyes grew wide and he growled with delight.
"Fuck it," he dismissed as he crashed his lips down on hers.
She gave a sharp gasp and wrapped her limbs around him. Her fingers quickly found his short wiry hair, lacing through it and occasionally tugging. Just having their bodies pressed together like that almost made her cum, even though he was still mostly clothed, save his sand armor which actually made him feel more naked then actually being naked.
"You want me to fuck you," he stated arrogantly when their kiss broke.
"And you wanna do it so quit teasing me." She didn't like his tone so she slapped him on the cheek, making sure he couldn't dodge it, if he even would, with the grip in his hair.
A sudden fire welled up in him when she struck him. He growled at her defiance. "If that's what you want," he said after the shock of the slap wore off a bit. Then, he flipped her over onto her stomach again and pulled his pants down. He was in too much of a hurry to take them all the way off. "If you can't take it anymore…" he chided as he entered her.
With as aroused as she was, she knew that he had to be almost painfully hard by the time he penetrated her. She moaned deeply at the purposeful way that he thrust inside her.
"You're so wet already," he marveled when he noticed that as he slid in and out of her, her wetness started to run down her legs.
She actually laughed at his observation. "You wouldn't have me any other way."
When they were like this, he didn't know her any other way. However, it was still amazing to him that she could be so aroused by him. The amount of abandon that she showed when they were together almost made him nervous.
She could sense his impending tension and once she could manage some sense of balance, she steadied herself on her elbows to give herself better leverage to push back. With one hand tightly gripping her hip, he snaked the other up her back, over her shoulder, and around her neck. Carefully, he used that leverage to pull her upright, so that her back was flush with his torso. He could feel her gasps and moans even more intensely now through the thin flesh covering her windpipe.
When he felt her start to grow hoarse from the slight pressure, he moved his hand further over to her other shoulder, so his arm wrapped around her. She practically squealed every time she came and he could feel the ripples of pleasure both physically and through their chakra. Once he was sure of their balance, he moved the hand on her hip around to stroke the hood of her clitoris. The first time he did that, they almost fell over.
It just made him grip her even more tightly as her back arched away from him and before he realized what he was doing, his face was buried in her shoulder and he was nibbling on her sweet flesh. When her muscles started to slacken, he knew she was starting to grow spent and felt justified in letting himself go. He was surprised that he held out as long as he did. The other two times they had been together, he had felt time pressing in on them. This time was different. He wanted to make it last and he found one of the most pleasing things about this encounter would be the opportunity to do just that.
"You're so strong," she marveled, "so sure…"
"You don't give me room for doubt," he replied through gritted teeth.
"I don't want you to doubt," she managed to reply between gasps.
"What do you want?" he rasped into her ear.
"You know what I want," she answered.
"Tell me. I want to hear you say it," he urged.
She gave a fitful moan at his request. Words were nearly beyond her. "I want your pleasure. You feel so deeply and you're willing to share it with me. I have what I want!"
Her answer pleased him greatly and he came inside her a moment later, the snapping crackle in his brain almost ringing in his ears. Seconds later, they were lying panting on the floor. Once reclined, his grip was loose enough for her to turn back around to face him.
"Here," she lifted one of her breasts to his lips because her nipples had started to leak little beads of milk.
He thought about it for a moment. "Not right now," he declined even though he really wanted to.
"Oh? But why?" she frowned.
Gaara gave a mischievous smirk. "I wanna see how big they get if you don't empty'em all the time."
"But they'll start to ache," she complained. "And look, it's already started," she gave a slight squeeze and squirted him a little."
"You can handle it," he dismissed.
"Fine," she pouted and started to redress, dabbing up the little drops of fluid from her skin. "But if you take too long, I won't wait for you. If I don't empty them often enough, the milk runs dry," she advised.
"Oh, I don't expect to have to wait too long," he teased, following suit in redressing.
She gave a playful little glare over her shoulder before ducking into the bathroom. Just as she closed the door, there was a polite little knock on the door. Since she either didn't hear it or wasn't inclined to rush out of the bathroom to answer it, Gaara took it upon himself to do it for her, thinking it would be at least mildly amusing to see the reaction of her visitor.
"Hap-…" was as far as Ebisu got before he noticed the short person on the other side of the door appeared to be the exact opposite of who he was expecting. "What are you doing here?" he suddenly asked. "Where's Calixta?"
"Hn, in the bathroom," he answered simply, examining the package under his arm. It was wrapped in colorful paper and tied with a shiny bow. "I was in town so I thought I'd pay her a visit."
At hearing the two voices, Calixta came out of the bathroom, to see who Gaara was talking to. "Ebisu! Oh, we have a date, don't we?" she fretted.
"A what?" Gaara growled under his breath.
"You see, Gaara here suddenly came into town and it slipped my mind. If you don't mind waiting a minute, I'll be ready to go," she managed.
"You'll what?" Gaara growled again.
"Uh, yeah, sure. I'll just wait on the porch," Ebisu complied suspiciously but decided not to make a scene because if she was going to come with him anyway, he could ask her about it then.
"You're going on a date with that-that person?" Gaara asked incredulously.
"He's leaving the village for a mission and doesn't know when he's coming back or I'd reschedule," she replied as she gathered her things.
"So that's it? You're just going?" he snapped.
His anxiety caused her to pause. "Would you rather I cancel my date?" she offered seriously.
He could feel the sense of charity behind her offer. "Do whatever you want. I just think you're wasting your time with a nothing like him."
"Thank you. I'll only be gone a few hours. You can stay here if you like," she tried.
"Whatever," he sneered at her and stormed out.
With a sigh of resignation, Calixta finished getting ready and met Ebisu on the porch.
"What's with him?" Ebisu asked before offering up his present.
"What do you mean?" she asked knowingly.
"Why was he in your house answering your door?" he pressed forwardly.
"Because we're lovers," she answered frankly, probing him with her chakra to gauge his reaction. He was obviously displeased but more than that, he was confused.
"That's ridiculous. That kid's dangerous."
"People used to say the same thing about me. In fact, a lot of people still do, I'm sure," she answered.
"Nonsense! He's completely different," he dismissed.
"Look, I've had to justify myself to enough people already. I just want to enjoy our date. Please?" she nearly pleaded.
"Yeah, okay. Forget I said anything," he tried to push it from his mind.
Gaara left Calixta's house in a huff, annoyed that he came so far to see her only to have her go on a date with someone else. He didn't care if the plans were made before he arrived unannounced or that she promised this was the only engagement she had for while he was in the village. What annoyed him even more was that she offered to cancel her date, once she felt how disappointed he was. Of course, he wouldn't accept such a generous offer; it felt too much charity for his ego and he couldn't handle that. So, she left with the irritating man with the present. The present also bothered him. She seemed to expect nothing from Gaara but the person who had taken her away seemed obligated to give her a gift.
About an hour later, while he was aimlessly wandering the village, his only direction was to make sure he avoided Calixta and her date, he happened upon Sasuke.
"Yo," the dark-haired teen greeted when the short sand ninja slowly approached the cart where he was eating dinner.
Gaara looked over at the voice and gave a slight nod of acknowledgment.
"I thought you'd be with Calixta," Sasuke continued.
Gaara glared weakly.
"You two get into a fight or somethin'?" he pressed.
"No. And what business is it of yours?" the sand ninja finally snapped.
Sasuke took a few seconds to study the strange ninja from another village. "She's with somebody else right now, isn't she?" he guessed.
Gaara's frown deepened.
"I have an extra ramen ticket. You wanna eat?" Sasuke offered with uncharacteristic kindness.
The mention of food made Gaara's stomach growl, making him realize that he hadn't really eaten since before he left home a couple days ago. "Fine," he growled.
"So, did she just ditch you or what?" Sasuke pressed again once the other young man had a nice big bowl of ramen.
Gaara gave a little growl of frustration before answering. "She…had plans already for this evening," he managed.
"Oh? With who?"
"I don't know his name," Gaara snapped again. "Some dork in sunglasses, brought her a present," he added offhandedly.
"Oh, shit," Sasuke quietly swore to himself.
"What?" the sudden expletive threw him off.
"Oh, her birthday's this week. Kakashi-sensei reminded me but I forgot," Sasuke scolded himself.
"Her birthday?" Gaara laughed a little. "So, what are you then? Another one of her lovers?" he accused.
"Lover?" Sasuke actually laughed with incredulity. "Sometimes I wanna blow fire at her until there's nothing left but cinders. No, we train together," he managed.
"Train together?" Gaara scoffed. "That's an interesting euphemism for fucking."
"What makes you so sure we're fucking?" Sasuke asked seriously.
"I can tell," he smugly replied.
"Yeah right," Sasuke dismissed.
"Really, I can," he insisted.
"If you say so," he shrugged.
"You don't believe me. That's okay. It doesn't matter. Either way, I know you're fucking her."
"Okay, say that is what we are doing. What's it to you?" Sasuke countered.
Gaara gave a slight snarl of displeasure. "Nothing," he replied simply.
Sasuke shrugged. "Besides, it's not like we're just screwing for the hell of it. Her abilities require another person to train. That person's me. Screwing is just part of the deal at that point."
The little sand ninja's frown deepened but he didn't reply to that. Actually, he had been wondering if there was someone like that in her life or if she had to just find subjects to practice with on her own. "Whatever," he finally dismissed.
"You shouldn't worry about her being with other people," Sasuke tried.
"I'm not worried," Gaara countered.
"Okay, not worried, disappointed or annoyed or whatever you feel," Sasuke tried again.
"Tch, what do you know?" Gaara nearly growled.
"I'm only the person in this village who probably knows her the best," Sasuke dismissively bragged.
"Oh yeah? If you say so. Is that why you're making this feeble attempt to cheer me up?" he asked darkly.
"I know you came here to see her and now she's off with somebody else. You don't seem like the type to care about that sort of thing but it seemed to be bothering you. I just wanted to let you know that even though she's kind of a slut, it's not like she just goes around sleeping with anybody."
"And you know this because you're her training partner?" Gaara smartly surmised.
"I know a lot more about her than I'd care to because of it," Sasuke admitted.
"Like what?" he challenged.
Sasuke studied his company for another few seconds. "I know she really, really likes you…for some reason," he added with a grumble.
"Oh? Does that displease you?" Gaara asked almost hopefully.
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "No, I don't waste my time trying to approve or disapprove of what, or who, she does. It's just weird. I wonder if she'd been here when you rampaged through our village and forests, would she still feel that way?" he jabbed.
"I guess we'll never know," Gaara smugly replied. "Did she tell you that she likes me?"
"She didn't have to," he answered.
"Oh? You just knew?" the sand ninja scoffed.
"Well, it wasn't that easy. I asked about you during one of our training sessions. She didn't want to talk about you but I could tell that was why. I think she was afraid of 'calling' you on accident," he replied.
In the time since his last visit, he had occasionally felt Calixta's chakra tugging at his own but it wasn't anything like the force that had drawn him there last time. "She couldn't do that to me again," Gaara vowed.
"Tch, if you say so." Sasuke was silently very grateful that Gaara hadn't been there when the others had gathered. Not only would that have caused a much larger commotion but if he had seen Sasuke there, he wouldn't believe that the dark-haired teen was only there out of curiosity rather than the pull of her attraction. "You're serious," he marveled. "You don't think she can influence you? You're not even trying to resist her chakra, are you?"
Gaara scoffed again, "I don't have to."
"Well, she does have a fair handle on her effect on others…but when she gets attached to someone, that control tends to slip," Sasuke advised.
"I know about her attachment and her control, thank you," Gaara snapped. "Just because you screw around with her and call it training doesn't mean you understand anything."
"It's not just screwing around," Sasuke insisted, slamming his fist on the counter for emphasis.
"Then what is it? What makes you so different?" he demanded.
Sasuke thought for a moment how to answer. "Because I've used her power."
"You? Why?" Gaara seethed.
"She wanted to know what it was like so I used my sharingan to copy her, to show her what it's like to be affected by someone like that," he explained.
"You charmed Calixta?" he incredulously questioned.
"Only for as long as she'd let me or until we're done, which ever comes first," he shrugged. "Once I stop using the copy, the effect is gone."
Gaara eyed his company suspiciously. "You're lying."
"Fine. Don't believe me. It doesn't make a difference either way."
"Then why bother to say it?"
"You're not the only person who feels deeply connected to her and I don't know what she means to you, but I know that you mean a great deal to her. She'd be very disappointed if you let her other relationships interfere with yours."
"I don't need to be lectured by you," Gaara seethed and pushed his bowl away.
Sasuke gave a non-committal shrug and Gaara stormed off. Just as he was starting to push that conversation out of his mind, he happened upon someone else. The face was less familiar than the last one but it was familiar nonetheless. As he walked, Jiraiya matched step with him.
"Good evening, young man," he greeted.
"What do you want, grandpa?" Gaara snapped.
"We didn't get the opportunity to properly introduce ourselves earlier," the older man replied with an almost disgusting level of politeness. "I am Jiraiya. Calixta and I are friends. Since you are apparently a friend of hers as well, I thought we could become better acquainted."
Gaara rolled his eyes and turned the next corner but to his dismay, it didn't dissuade the older man in the least. "I already told you my name, what more do you want?"
"You seem anxious," Jiraiya observed.
The young ninja gave a quick look around to find that at that time of the evening, everyone who was out was too caught up in their own goings on to pay much attention to them. "I don't know how she can do it," he mused darkly.
"What's that?" the older man quirked a curious eyebrow.
"You, really. You're ancient! Can you even get it up anymore, old man? Or does she have to help you?" he taunted.
Jiraiya glared with incredulous shock for a second before bursting out laughing. "You're a feisty one, aren't you? I should have known after you gave Naruto a real run for his money like you did."
"I don't have time for your senile babble," Gaara dismissed and tried to walk away again.
"A real live one you are. I bet that's why she likes you," he mused.
"If you say so."
"What I can't figure out…is what you see in her," he told the young man seriously.
"That's the kind of question I'd expect Kakashi to ask," Gaara countered as he thought of a reply.
"I'm not Kakashi but I'm asking," he pressed.
"She's a healer," he replied simply.
Jiraiya cocked a suspicious eyebrow, sensing the potential double meaning of his words. "If you were simply using her to heal you, she wouldn't be as fond of you," he pointed out.
"What are you, really?" Gaara asked suddenly.
"I told you, I'm a friend of Calixta's," he replied innocently.
Gaara scoffed. "You've fucked'er too," he observed under his breath, then realizing that the older man's ears were still quite good, he continued before the other could speak. "She likes me." When he saw that wasn't quite sufficient to make the other leave him alone, he added, "When I touch her, she trembles but not one little twitch is out of fear," he mused, mostly to himself before really answering. "She doesn't fear me. Even you, someone she calls "Master"…I make you nervous."
Jiraiya smirked at the honest reply in spite of the obvious taunt. "You don't make me nervous right now. I know you won't do anything that might make Calixta think less of you."
Gaara was just about to ask if that was a challenge when Naruto interrupted. He realized that sort of thing was happening a lot lately and it would have been more annoying if it didn't come with another realization, that he hardly ever spoke this much, especially in casual conversation. Normally, he kept his thoughts to himself and others didn't expect him to reply. Being in this village and with Calixta was getting him to open up a bit.
"Pervy Sage!" Naruto came running up. "Where have you been? You were supposed to show me that new technique today!" he whined.
"I'm sorry, I got busy. Come get me first thing tomorrow and I'll take you out and teach you," Jiraiya bargained.
"You're so lazy! You always say you're going to do stuff and then it takes forever to get you to do it!" Naruto complained.
That was about the time that Gaara thought he could sneak off but luck didn't seem to be in his favor that evening.
"Here, why don't you entertain Gaara-san, here," Jiraiya motioned to the short sand ninja. "Show him something fun," he even pulled a few coins out of his purse and gave them to his student.
The bribe was effective. "Okay but I'm still waking you up first thing tomorrow morning and I don't care how hung over you are!"
"Okay, okay, I'm sure you will," Jiraiya wandered off, leaving the two young men together. In his mind, he had given Gaara the perfect chaperone and companion, someone who was a good match for him in a fight who didn't always thinking about fighting him.
"Uh, hey, Gaara. I didn't know you were in town," Naruto managed to greet.
"I'm here for a mission," he dismissed.
"Ah, okay. Have you seen Calixta yet?" the blonde asked hopefully.
"Yes. I've seen her already and we have plans for later this evening so I really don't have time to entertain you," Gaara snapped.
"Aw, but Master Jiraiya gave us this money, we should so something with it first. He's kind of a cheapskate so it shouldn't take too long," he winked.
Gaara almost laughed at the jab toward the older man. Then, something occurred to him. He didn't really have any money. He never had much use for it. As a ninja, his needs were taken care of more often than not and he required very few extravagancies. "Give it to me," he ordered.
"What for?" he curiously asked.
"None of your business," Gaara snapped.
"Fine," Naruto handed over the small pile of coins. Then, when the sand ninja started to walk away with it, he followed.
"What are you doing?" Gaara glared over his shoulder.
Since he was apparently still being acknowledged, Naruto decided to match step with the other young ninja instead of walking behind him. "I'm gunna follow you and see what you spend it on." He knew that would be at least as interesting as doing something together.
Gaara made a quiet sound of irritation and shoved the money in his pocket. "If it was yours, what would you spend it on?" he shifted the focus of their conversation.
"Me?" Naruto laughed, "I'd spend it all on ramen!" he enthusiastically replied, practically drooling at the idea.
Gaara almost smiled and even nearly laughed. Even though it wasn't much money, it could still get him quite a bit of ramen. He would have considered using it to buy them something to eat if he hadn't just gotten done eating with Sasuke.
"What're you gunna buy?" Naruto asked again.
"I haven't decided yet," he admitted, surprised by how long Naruto followed him as he window shopped the market district's closing shops. After over an hour of not buying anything, he turned to the person still walking with him. "I'm gunna go see if Calixta's home yet," he announced.
"Oh…but you didn't buy anything!" Naruto complained.
"Everything's closed," Gaara pointed out.
The blonde frowned. "Okay, fine. G'night."
The dark-eyed teen breathed a sigh of relief that he was left alone with his thoughts as he walked back to her place. He still felt a little jilted by her but after talking to some of her acquaintances, he felt somewhat better about it. The fact that he could sense her chakra on those she spent the most time with was an interesting discovery and, by the intensity with which he felt it, he could tell how close they were.
As much as it bothered him to think about Calixta and Sasuke together so intimately, he could tell the other young ninja was being genuine when he spoke of her. They were deeply connected but the deep feelings they felt for one another weren't exactly affectionate. Then, there was that damned old man. He regretted having approached him in the first place but the fact that he unwittingly provided a few extra coins to buy Calixta a birthday present, made him dislike Jiraiya less. He wouldn't have put much stock on the older man except for the kinds of questions he asked, not to mention the casual way he asked them. Naruto had been his favorite to talk to that evening because while he was generally pretty idiotic, that also meant that he didn't have a tendency to focus on serious topics.
When he returned that evening, it was just starting to really get dark. He found her sitting on her porch swing with her little dog in her lap and smoking a cigarette.
"Yo," she greeted lazily as he approached.
"How was your date?" he asked, sitting down next to her.
"Ebisu is very sweet," she evenly replied but couldn't hold back a slight, whimsical grin.
"What'd he get you?" he continued.
"Oh," she lifted her ankle, "this little bracelet." When she shook her foot, the little bells attached to the thin silver chain jingled lightly.
He gave the accessory an incredulous look. "Do you like that thing?"
"It would be too noisy to wear all the time but it'll be great for when I go out dancing," she answered.
Her reply gave Gaara a slight pang of disappointment. Not only would he have never chosen such a thing to give to her, he had never once in his entire life danced. "You never mentioned it was your birthday," he teasingly chided.
She didn't think Gaara would care about such a holiday. "It's not for another couple days but he's leaving the village tomorrow so he gave it to me early," she explained and then studied him for a moment. "Don't get me anything," she told him.
"I wasn't planning on it," he lied even though she could see right through it.
She let the lie go, knowing that he enjoyed being able to say the complete opposite of what he was thinking and have her know the truth. "Good because having you here is more than enough. Besides, you wouldn't want me to come to your village with presents for your birthday, would you?" she threatened as she put out her cigarette to scoot closer to him.
Just the idea of her showing up like that embarrassed him. However, that didn't mean he wouldn't go shopping again tomorrow. He knew she wouldn't do such a thing to him. "Fine," he agreed. Then, he took a second to look down at her chest. Her breasts were incredibly swollen, the largest he'd ever seen them, and her nipples were starting to harden. "Let's go inside."
She nodded and followed him into her home where he closed and locked the door before turning to face her. When she saw him eyeing her breasts, she smirked. "I hope you're hungry," she teased. Just the thought of him sucking every last drop from her was starting her milk to let down.
The slight flush that decorated her skin as she invited him to take of her made Gaara close the gap between them. With one hand on the small of her back and the other on her left breast, he kissed her and started to lead them back to her bedroom. Once in there, he again closed the door, annoyed that there was no lock. Perhaps that's what he could get her for her birthday.
Regardless, he led her over to the bed where he laid down on his back, pulling her down on top of him and only breaking their kiss for a moment when they landed. With her on her hands and knees above him, he started to massage both her breasts, making sure to tease her nipples, as they were now completely erect and poking out her blouse. He kept that until he could feel her starting to soak through her shirt. Then, without thinking, he moved one of his legs between hers and raised his knee until her crotch rested on his thigh. Shortly after, she was soaking through her panties as well.
The sense of relief that she felt when he finally opened her shirt almost startled him. She sighed slowly and her muscles relaxed as he slid down so that his mouth was even with her nipples, her breasts hanging heavily above him. At first, he alternated squeezing one, then the other, and trying to catch the little spurts in his mouth. Though, not long after she instinctively arched her back, lowering one of her nipples into his mouth.
"You better take all of it," she teasingly snapped when the hard sucking caused her to wince slightly.
His reply was a mischievous look upward as he lightly nibbled on her over sensitive nipple. She squealed and squirmed but not enough to even come close to breaking free of him. When that breast was empty, he moved to the other. As he did, he rubbed his leg between hers, making her moan a little louder.
"This really gets you hot," he remarked in a breathy voice. He wanted to sound more chiding but he just couldn't do it; her pleasure, which washed over him in growing waves, inhibited that tone.
"That depends…on the situation," she replied almost shamefully because she could feel that he wanted to taunt her and couldn't manage it. "With you, you bet your sweet ass it does," she playfully replied.
Gaara smirked and moved on but this time, he moved one of his hands between her legs to start rubbing her through her panties. He didn't realize she was so close to cuming until it happened. Her panties had been wet before, to the point of soaking through but now his fingers were wet. On top of that, as she climaxed, her milk, which was already flowing freely, almost gushed unto his mouth with the spasms that rocked her body.
She didn't bother to count her orgasms, but Gaara tried, if only because every time she came, he felt on the verge of losing himself as well. He thought it was a great testament to his self control that he could hold himself back through her peaks.
Once she was empty, Gaara let his head fall back and rest on her bed, only then realizing that as her breasts became smaller, he would crane his neck to compensate for the difference.
"Good?" she asked with a haughty grin when he saw the pleased smirk on his face.
He nodded and then thought for a second, "Ya know, it's not fair…" he lazily teased.
"Oh? What's that?" she asked curiously as she laid down on top of him, bringing a hand up to run through his wild hair.
"I drink so much of your milk…but you've never drank any of mine," he replied, his eyes half-lidded with mischief and desire.
"I suppose that is something we've overlooked. It's nice to have the free time together to be able to remedy such oversights," she told him slyly as she slid down his body.
"I saved it just for you," he almost growled.
"Oh? Did you now?" she teased back. "That's very sweet of you." She didn't bother to tell him that she had helped him hold back because it seemed to be a point of pride for him. Though, it wasn't just for his benefit. Since Kakashi's birthday, most of their encounters had included him forcing her to exercise control over his orgasms or their encounter would end before she was satisfied.
"I don't know how sweet it'll be," he taunted half-heartedly because she was starting to pull his erection out of his pants.
"Sweet enough," she shrugged, "You should know by now that I am not deterred by a little bitterness. If that was the case, I wouldn't have sought you out before the others came to 'rescue' me from your village and I certainly wouldn't have let you kiss me while you were still unnerved by my power to draw you here."
Gaara wanted to reply, he had an equally antagonizing retort ready for when she finished speaking but when she did, she stuck her tongue out, an action that made his eyes grow wide and his breath hitch with anticipation. Then, when she licked his shaft a moment later, his eyes rolled back and all of his thoughts were gone. If he were to discuss it with Kankuro, he would have been told his brain had leaked out his ear for at least a good five minutes.
When he could finally form a coherent thought, there was only one thing on his mind. He wanted to cum. She could sense him letting go of his desire and allowed him his release, drinking up ever last drop she could get before letting his limp member slide from her lips. As he caught his breath, she snuggled up next to him. Before she realized it, she was drifting off to sleep.
"Hey," he nudged her when he saw her eyes slide shut.
She held him tightly, "Oooh," she almost whined, "I wanna stay up with you but I'm so tired…Just let me rest for a few hours."
Gaara nodded and let her fall asleep. However, it took several attempts at trying to slip away before he actually succeeded because the first few times he tried, she held him tightly, almost protectively, and he knew he wouldn't be able to get away without waking her.
Once he did manage to get away, he redressed and covered her up. He couldn't help lingering for a few long moments to watch her sleep. She looked so peaceful. Hardly anyone had been able to sleep in the same room that he was in, let alone so peacefully.
When he snapped himself out of that, he took the opportunity to explore the rest of her house, eventually ending with her liquor cabinet. It didn't have a whole lot but she did have a few bottles. So, he took the one that looked the least expensive and went for a walk.