Chapter Six
In the midday of an unusually warm fall, Gaara of the sand awoke with the glint of the season's sun in his aqua eyes. He growled and turned away from the heat, only to have it burn into the fabric of his black night shirt.
"Uhh…" Gaara growled, rubbing his temple. "Kankuro! Close the blinds, I'm trying to sleep!"
Trudging through the door moments later was no other than the make- up clad puppet master, miffed at his brother's request, but still taking his time to shut out the light in Gaara's room.
"Thank you, brother." Gaara slurred, head pressing into his pillow to soften the cotton. The red haired shinobi had been progressing in his people skills steadily, for if he was to be the Kazekage it was deemed necessary to show one he cares.
"Don't mention it Ga—"The cat-like sand shinobi cut his own sentence off, eyes wide open and shaky. Before he could finish his response, an eerie chill had seemed to frost the air. The puppet master stepped back and crept slowly towards Gaara's bed, feeling the impulse to protect the red haired boy.
"Kankuro," the smaller shinobi lifted himself up, intrigued by his brother's odd behavior. "What is wrong? Why are your eyes so… fearful?" in the back of the sand shinobi's mind, he could feel the pounding need in his head to take advantage of his brother's reflective emotions. He still craved the excitement of it all… but he knew... he knew he had to overcome his imploring conscious that was yearning for the desperation in Kankuro's eyes.
Setting his thoughts straight, the Kazekage lifted himself up, only to understand what made the puppet master tremor and whimper. There, in front of the two, lay the ominous figures of Alice and Thaddeus Collins.
"Took a while to notice our presence, my dear Gaara," Alice teased, taking a challenging step forward. "We were worried you were going to sleep in all day, right Thaddeus?"
Her partner sent a flashing smile back to her in response, forked tongue jutting out and flickering in the tense air around them.
"Oh yes Alice, it did feel like an eternity watching and waiting for our little prince to stir." Thaddeus chuckled, almost like a taunt for the two sand shinobi. "At least I got to see my dear cat master before taking off with our Gaara."
The purple paint on Kankuro's face crinkled as his eyes widened with shock. What could they want with his brother? He knew of their dangerous intentions, but kidnapping the Kazekage? Didn't they know the harm that would follow the two if they went through with it?
Meanwhile, Alice Collins rolled her black lined eyes, upper lip curling due to her partner's comment. "Oh hush Thaddie. We came for our red haired treat, not so you can ogle over his brother."
"You're insane!"
The duo drove their attention back to the make-up clad puppet master, a smile twisting on Alice's face.
"Oh Kankuro… you think we are that crazy? We know the risks we are taking, silly! But don't worry, we'll take good care of Gaara… and if you try to stop us…" the tamer snickered, boring her gaze into Kankuro's dark brown eyes. She was full of malice, determination… hunger. Thaddeus walked around his partner, hands behind his back, surreptitiously dropping the Doll to the ground as it unfolded itself, ready to silence the sand shinobi and Kazekage.
Meanwhile, the red haired ninja stood still in his creaky wooden bed, fascinated by the pair, frozen in shock. Who were these ninja? To challenge his brother, nay, intend to do portentous things with Gaara and know that the whole village will be after them—it was madness.
"Oh little Gaara," Thaddeus said, breaking the sand shinobi's cloud of thought. His eyes gleamed with a look that almost declared he had an ace in the hole. "I hope you don't mind taking a little nap."
Thus, before even raising a red eyebrow, the sickening dance of white specks went through his aqua eyes, spiraling into a tunnel of darkness.
The pounding drum beat of Gaara's headache was the first things the Kazekage woke up to. Second to that came the exposed flesh of a certain bird tamer as the sand shinobi lifted his narrow head up. Alice Collins stood in front of him on the window pane of a dark, timber colored window, a pair of black tight sweatpants on but missing her gray, silver threaded corset that should've been covering her chest. Unaware of Gaara's stir into a conscious state, she had her ebony white flesh exposed, glimmering oddly from the direction of the sun. She pouted her lips and exhaled, curling her back as the slope of her breast brushed against her arms.
But as the sand shinobi focused more on the sight of the toxic woman, he noticed her arms were covered in recognizable shiny purple scars. They were scattered from her wrists to her upper elbow, some wide and some small, white slivers.
It looked almost as if they were puncture wounds… or claw marks…
"Thaddeus!" Alice snapped suddenly, making Gaara flinch. "Did you find my corset? Am I going to have to stay topless all day, or can we get some actual business done?"
Gaara seethed in his position, angry from the fact he could finally recall what happened before hand, when the two must've kidnapped him. How dare they take him away… and act like he wasn't even here when they did… the sand shinobi twirled his fingers silently, gathering a string of sand into his palm, ready to harden it like a spear.
Although, just as he was about to launch his deadly arrow at Alice with malicious intent, her partner bounded into the room, a giant green bird trailing behind him.
"Found it! Seems your little Sciar was using it as bedding for a nest."
Thaddeus threw the silver dressing at her, lace binding undone by her mischievous little bird.
"Oh, Sciar! You bad little boy!" Alice giggled, tying the strings back to their correct place with skilled hands. After she had finished, her face contorted, realizing she had tightened the corset before even slipping it on. If she tried now, it'd be impossible to tug on.
"Damn… guess I'll do it the old fashioned way…" the bird tamer huffed, grinning oddly.
Gaara raised his head, confused on why she'd be okay with having to go through the process of putting on her corset once again. That is, until he noticed her body changing. It was as if her bones were clay; her collar bone fell inwards and met with her narrowing ribs. She effortlessly slid the top over her head. And with a little twist of the neck, her bones popped back into place, filling the shell of her corset perfectly.
"There, all done!" Alice proclaimed, lifting herself up before slipping on the coat that lay not too far from her on the floor. "Now that I'm all dressed, you can stop feigning your presence, Gaara."
Upon hearing his name, the shinobi was wide eyed with shock… and fear. He crawled upward, legs burning with annoyance, and rose.
"I suggest one of you tell me where I am before I get furious." Gaara demanded, eyes glowering at the duo.
Thaddeus giggled as if the threat was all a joke. The puppet master grew closer to his partner and made a half circled around her before plopping down on the window sill. Sciar crooked his head at the man, slightly angry he was so close to his master. Thus, the nocturnal bird leapt on Alice and snuggled against her legs, falling into a relaxing sleep.
"Oh my little red," Thaddeus smirked and sent a cheeky smile to the Kazekage, wiggling his legs back and forth. "You can get angry all you want; we can wait until you cool down."
The two came closer to Gaara in a slow, calm pace, not worried in the slightest about the sand ninja's murderous potential. Sciar crawled up on the tamer's shoulder and peered at Gaara with beady eyes, imitating his master perfectly. It was then Gaara concurred that these people were indeed not just any ordinary shinobi; their pretentions were drastically different from any other. Fear would laminate in the eyes of those who met Gaara's gaze… But the Collins', they had the look of excitement.
"You are really serious, aren't you?" Gaara whispered, lower lip curling and trembling. "You are keeping me here… but why?"
The duo's malicious smiles decreased slightly, becoming more sympathetic towards the trembling Kazekage.
"Oh Gaara, we don't want to harm you. We aren't kidnapping you, dear; we are taking you into our family." Alice winked, kneeling down to the smaller ninja in order to meet his eye.
"But… I don't even know you; I have a family at home, I—"
"You need a good home." Thaddeus proclaimed while standing behind Alice with his arms crossed. "We understand you. It'll take time, but you will accept us, you'll understand why it had to be this way."
Gaara met the eyes of his captors, the aqua in them pooling, nervous and unsure. Never in his life has he felt submissive, so passive.
"What if I never understand?" the sand shinobi questioned, blinking furiously.
And in response, Alice took Gaara's pale face into her hands, hazel pupils boring into him. "Well we just have to jump right into teaching you then. I hope you'll be a fast learner." The bird tamer smiled, with no hint of danger in her expression before kissing the tattoo on Gaara's forehead.
"Come on'," Alice stood, clutching the Kazekage's smooth palm. "It's time to welcome you to our world."
End of chapter
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