Stage Thirteen: Reacquainted

I stepped outside and walked through the forest to the river's edge. I carried one of the few weapons Orochimaru didn't see fit to train me with, because face it, Shinobi just don't use long bows. They had limited range, few too many projectiles, and took too much time to get a good aim. However, for boredom's sake, it was something worth learning.

I had a quiver of thirty arrows. I had thirty tries before I would be forced to go gather all of them, by hand. Orochimaru made it very clear that he didn't want me to use any of my chakura.

There was always a target range set up in a forest clearing that was directly west of a large, mossy rock. It was a place I used to spend a lot of time practicing for various tests that Orochimaru would give me. There was a split boulder in the middle of the clearing, which was rust covered from all the times I had injured myself trying to navigate kunai around it in mid air. The trees were scarred with wounds from kunai and shurikan, as well as the katana I was given.

Orochimaru gave me a week to become acquainted with the blade before he himself challenged me to spar. I would work through the nights to get the sword to feel like an extension of my arm. He was impressed with my progress when we fought, to say the least.

I smiled as I strung the bow. Once the bowstring was tight, I took stance and pulled an arrow from the cylinder at my back. I knocked it and took aim at a large tree that had a faded red bull's eye. Pulling back the string, I let go. The arrow flew into the leaves, and then fell to the ground at the base of the tree. Five arrows went before I actually hit the target, and I was ten degrees off the centre at eleven o'clock.

"You missed," a voice called from the tree I was shooting at. It was a very familiar voice, but whose voice was it?

"I can see that, thank you," I answered with sarcasm. I pointed the bow up at the tree and shot another arrow as hard as I could.

The only answer was laughter, ice cold. I wanted to remember who it was. Damn Orochimaru and his drugs.

"Get your ass down here," I yelled.

He threw the arrow at my feet and jumped down. In an instant I recognized that tattoo. "Did you miss me?" he hissed.

"Just a bit," I answered, smiling sarcastically.

Gaara folded his arms and stared at me. "I suppose you know what comes next," he sneered.

I laughed and turned back toward the river. "You're not going to do shit." A wall of sand blocked me off from three sides, caging me in.

I felt his hand on my shoulder. "I'm going to do what ever I please."

"So you figured out your master plan?" I asked.

He bit into my shoulder lightly. I barely felt it, as it almost felt as though a fly had hit my shoulder. I reached behind me, grabbed his shoulder and pinned him into his own wall of sand. "You didn't answer me."

His sand surrounded me, binding my body tightly. I formed a chakura pressure field around my body, but it faltered. "You're getting weaker," Gaara observed. "Not fun at all. I was looking forward to the fight."

The tone in his voice gave something away. He had been watching me. He knew all about Orochimaru's experiment. It played right into his game. He had the advantage. I couldn't fight.

Sunagakure

I sat on the familiar couch, feeling dazed. I don't think I'll ever get used travelling with him. It had been three days, and I still had venom in my system. I was getting most of my reaction time back, but I still felt hazed. I felt as though Orochimaru was inside of me, calling me back home, and I had the urge to follow that order. However, I still wasn't strong enough to fight off the jichuriki that sat beside me.

I was tired all the time. He would ask about why I was yawning, even though he made it so clear that he knew. He would also offer to let me sleep if I wanted. I did want to, but I didn't trust him to leave me alone while I slept. Who knows what horrid things he would do to me?

His attitude had improved a bit since the exams. He was more thoughtful, but still pissy. He would sit for hours and look out the window, or stare at something. Meanwhile, I was staring out the window because I was tired, or staring at the same something because I was confused.

He was sitting in a chair at his desk that was turned toward a window, like normal. He was silent, as usual. He ignored me, like always.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I asked.

"What's wrong with you?" he answered.

"You abduct me again, just to ignore me?"

He didn't answer. I'll take that as a yes. It was strange. He didn't do anything to me. He would glare at me every time I looked like I was thinking of leaving, but otherwise I was forgotten. It was unsettling.

"Tsuki, you should go sleep. You need it now."

"I don't need to sleep, and I don't need you telling me what to do."

"Stop trying to start a fight."

I walked to the door and slid it open, to see a wall of sand in my face.

"You're still not going anywhere."

I turned around and approached him. I was very pissed off now. I walked to the back of his chair and rested my hand on his shoulder. He didn't do anything. What happened to the intense hatred? What happened to his vow to torture me? What happened to his love?

I bolted awake, having just realized that it was a dream. I looked out the open window to see a huge moon over an expanse of sand. I looked around me. He was sitting in a corner, glaring at me. "You're awake," he said, his voice still cold.

"You were watching me?" I asked.

"You looked peaceful," he said with resentment in his voice. "Sleeping seems to suite you."

I rolled my eyes in the dark. After having lifted the blankets from around me, I walked out of the bedroom. "Why the hell do you have a bedroom anyway?"

"In case I need it. Beds are good for more than just sleeping, you know."

It figures. He hadn't changed at all. He still hated me, and he still was intent on torturing me with confusing bouts of violence and affection. I doubt he would ever get a girl to go to bed with him. I don't think a guy would go either. "You didn't get one just for me, did you?" I asked, smirking.

"If I wanted to, I could take you where ever I like."

"You want to," I hissed. "You just don't want me to know."

His sand wrapped around me. "You're not even curious as to how you got here?"

"Fine, tell me."

"You were sleeping. It was a bit tricky getting Orochimaru to let you go."

"What do you mean?" Did he talk to Orochimaru-sama?

Gaara smirked evilly. "His arms were wrapped around you."

That filthy little liar, he was bluffing "Oh really?"

"Don't deny it. You love him. Why else would you be in the same bed, and handcuffed to him? Seems kinky, doesn't it?"

I gave him my own little smirk and leaned against a wall. "Want to try it?"

He ran his hand up my thigh, bunching up my skirt. "All in due time," he whispered, "but not right now. My body is not a weapon you can use against me. I'll take you in my time." He leaned down to kiss me, running his nails down my thigh sharply.

I put my hands up his shirt and rested on his back. His skin was soft beneath mine, and his muscles were defined. He bit my lower lip. I scratched down the length of his spine to the curve of his back.

His hands felt up my legs, to my abdomen, up the side of my torso, to my breasts, then to my shoulders and down my back. His tongue brushed against my lips, bringing heat to my body. I instantly responded by meeting his tongue with my own and pressing against him.

"Someone should have drugged you sooner," he breathed into my ear. "It's too bad that my love isn't the love you wanted."

I dug my nails into his back. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You talk in your sleep," he smiled. "Don't worry too much, I wouldn't tell Orochimaru the things you dream about. It's okay, you blamed the venom."

I shoved him into the opposite wall. "How dare you lie to me," I growled.

"I love it when you're rough with me," he growled, "but I'm not lying."

I let go and stormed into the other room.

His sand caught my wrist, and I felt his arm slide around my waist. "I also love when you run away."

I stood and folded my arms. His other arm came across my chest and rested on the opposing shoulder, pulling my body to his. He buried his face in my neck and scattered kisses down my throat. I put my hands to his and pulled them off me, then walked to the couch.

He stopped me before I sat down. I pulled his arm around me and thrust him to the sofa in front of me. He laced his fingers with mine and pulled me on top of him. He parted my lips and brushed his tongue once more against my own, wrapping his arms around me.

I felt him beneath me. Each pulsation drove me mad, only because it was subtle. The pressure of him against me, however, wasn't. Lust is a funny thing to me, simply because I hate the man who is laying beneath me, yet he controlled my body's reaction. I couldn't stop him from kissing me, or touching my skin. I couldn't help the shuddering of chills that he sent through me. I didn't want them to stop.

He arched his back, sending his hips into mine. I let out an audible gasp. I fell forward, catching myself before I collapsed onto him. My hair cascaded around us. He looked into my violet eyes before brushing a strand behind my ear. He wrapped his arms around me and threw me over onto the suede of the couch. He looked down upon me, as he crouched over my body.

His hand wandered down the length of my thigh and unsnapped my kunai pouch. He extracted one knife and threw the pouch to the side. He traced the blade lightly over every inch of exposed skin he could reach from my neck to my calves. He paused to run the edge over my exposed midriff, raising goose bumps all over my body. He never cut into my skin enough to make me bleed, but he broke skin.

He lowered down to where he was mere centimetres from my pelvis. His lips crashed to mine, his tongue sending molten fire through my nerves. I felt him shiver under my touch as I ran my fingers under his shirt.

He got off of me. "That will do," he smirked. He left a soft kiss on my lips and walked away from me. I watched him turn his back on me once again, leaving me wanting more. His torture was something else. I would have never expected him to be like this. I smirked as he turned a corner. The torture had to be effecting him just as much as it affected me.