A/N: More inner turmoil! But, this one is for a better reason then just hormones. Again, I think I'm a sadist or something because I really like how this came out.
So, I have a new story in the works but it's going to be different then my usual fluffy crap. It's going to be my first time doing truly dark stuff and I already have the first chapter done. I kinda wanna post it just to see how people respond to it, but I'm torn because I want to finish this story and Wretched Soul before I work on other stuff. So even if I do end up posting it, it probably wont get anymore chapters until then. I dunno, what do you guys think?
Also, enjoy!
"Alright, I'm finished for today. I'll be back next week to check up on her okay?" Gaara watched the pink haired medic-nin wipe her brow as she emerged from the hospital room that had been dubbed off limits.
He nodded courtly, "Yes, thank you Sakura."
She smiled at him and gently placed a hand on his shoulder, while mentally wondering if this display was appropriate. "Don't worry, she made it." She paused and looked down at his hands which had been gripping at his sleeves tightly the entire time she had been there. "The hard part is just starting. Once she wakes up she's going to need a lot of physical therapy to be able to walk on that leg properly again." A flash to the Chuunin exams and Lee's injuries made her pause again.
He gently grabbed her wrist, pulling it off his shoulder. "I understand." He moved around her with such grace that Sakura was actually surprised. "I will see you next week." The door closed and he disappeared into the room.
Gaara stood by the door, just out of view of the tiny square window that was on the door. His green eyes stared at the girl unconscious in the sterile hospital bed, Wakana lying next to her. The whole room was white; why were they always white? Was it thought to be a clean color? On the small bedside table, there was a vase of blooming lilies, possibly from Temari; still everything was white. He knew Kankuro had stopped by only because his older brother had told him to go see her. He hadn't had the courage to visit, especially after Temari told him what happened to them on their way back to Suna. This was his first actual visit to the hospital since she had been admitted. He didn't really like hospitals.
It had been over a month since Setsuko had been admitted into the hospital after the explosion that decimated the Inn. It had taken three days after her admittance before Sakura arrived to provide medical support. They were lucky enough to have been able to barely keep her alive during that time; in fact he had been told that before Sakura had arrived to take over, she had died four times. But by some miracle, none of her vital organ had been damaged; all the severity was caused by massive physical trauma and blood loss. His hands balled into fists angrily. There was no trace left of anything at the site so there was no way to track whoever had done this. Angry eyes fell upon the now clean Princess. The image of her bloody and burned body flashed through his mind and he had to look away briefly. For some reason just thinking about it seemed to cause him to choke. Slowly he walked over to the bed, each step hesitating as he got closer.
Finally he stopped beside the bed, his arms falling to his sides, too heavy for him to keep them crossed anymore. Wakana brought her small head up, flaming ears perked as she looked up at her 'father'. Looking down at her motionless body, he again felt something twist his heart. Her hair hadn't been brushed in so long but they had washed the blood and dirt out of it so that it returned to its normal platinum color. She had protected her face well enough that she had a few stitches and patches, but nothing major. There was a bandage around her neck from a cut that had been hidden by the blood. Both her arms were covered from her biceps to her fingers in bandages and padding to help the torn muscle and skin heal. He could see the bandages that were under her patient robes, they wrapped around her collar bone and down her midsection to cover all the deep cuts that littered her upper body and from where the metal rod had punctured her side. Although he couldn't see it, he knew her right leg had to be heavily bandaged after the way he had seen it.
"Gaara…" Temari's voice broke through the incredible amount of silence that made up the room.
"What is it Temari?" He didn't look up, to transfixed on the comatose girl struggling to wake up.
She slowly closed the door behind her, "I didn't expect you to be here. Kankuro told me that you hadn't come by for a visit yet."
"How could I?" He took the moment to finally let his gaze break away and look out the window. "It was my fault that this happened."
Even though he didn't see, Temari looked a little shocked. "What are you talking about? This was not your fault Gaara!"
"I should have made the two of you come with Kankuro and I when we left the Hidden Leaf."
"Hey, just because we left later doesn't mean that had anything to do with what put Setsuko here."
"If she had been here earlier, it may not have happened."
"You don't know that! We had been gone nearly a week, those paper bombs could have been put there at any moment!"
"And how do you know?!"
Temari flinched at the angry and pained shout. She could see he was hurting, bad. The two may never admit it, but they had feelings of some kind for each other; she knew that much. "Gaara maybe…" she paused and bit lightly into her bottom lip. "Maybe you shouldn't be here."
He whipped around with an incredulous look. How dare she say something like that to him! "Why shouldn't I be?"
"Listen to yourself! You're getting worked up and you haven't even noticed that it's bothering Setsuko!" She didn't want to shout, but it was the only way he would hear her.
Gaara jerked and looked back at the unconscious girl. He could hear it now, the rapid beeping of the heart monitor; her pulse was elevated. Temari was right; how he hated when she was right. "…I'm sorry." He sighed and left in a flurry of sand.
"He's been like this ever since you were put here," Temari said as she walked up to the single chair that sat beside the bed. Taking a seat, she sighed to herself, "I don't think he'll admit it to anyone, even himself, but he's really torn up about you being here."
The blonde leaned back in the seat, tilting it back on its hind legs and looking at the flowers that were still fresh. She didn't actually know Setsuko's favorite flower, but after seeing one in her hair at the Spring Festival she had thought it nice. Her eyes flittered up to the ceiling with a stoic look, she remembered the day all too well. They had all wanted to forget it. Good ninja lost their lives and a Princess almost lost hers; it was not something that was remembered with joy. It made her think, Setsuko would be torn up when she heard of Aoi and Isamu.
"Whenever you wake up, it's not going to be a happy day for anyone," she sighed, letting the chair fall back to the floor.
Her heart was racing, her breathing shallow. Darkness. There was darkness everywhere. Where was she? "Hello?" her voice called out, echoing in the negative space around her. It was eerie being all alone and hearing your voice bounce around and shout back at you.
What was she going to do? Where was she going to go? And most of all, how was she going to escape? Without warning she was thrust into a summery meadow full of tall grass and even taller flowers. The sky was blue and the sun was out. A gentle breeze kissed her frozen skin and gave her long hair a gentle wave. Her ears could hear the chirping of birds and other animals roaming around, but she couldn't see any. Where was she? Her bare feet tried to move, but when they did, she buckled to her knees in pain. Looking down, she could see her legs had bandages on them; lots of bandages. How had they gotten there? Was she in an accident? She couldn't remember. Hissing with pain, she forced herself back to her feet.
With great effort, she made her feet walk and cringed through each step taken. As she moved though, she noticed that more and more bandages appeared on her body. Where had she gotten all these bandages? The bottoms of her feet were beginning to bleed as she kept walking, trying to figure out where she was and how to get back. She stopped. Where was she trying to go? Not once had she ever thought about her destination, something was just compelling her to go. With shaky knees, she toppled to the ground and stared down at her knees. Did she have a home to go to? Did she have people to go back to? Where on earth was she trying to go?
Looking up, another breeze blew through her hair. Her blue eyes blinked away the bangs and she noticed something in the distance. It was a figure of some kind. The image was hazy but the outline looked like that of a man. Running her fingers through her hair, she twisted it a little and pulled it over her shoulder so it wouldn't be in the way and forced herself to her feet. She needed to find out who it was. She needed to find out if they knew who she was and where she was trying to go! Her bloody feet ran and ran, trying desperately not to fall over from the sheer pain. She couldn't let them disappear! They were fading away the closer she got to them, their frame walking away from her. Why were they leaving her behind? She wanted to know who they were!
"Come back!" she shouted as she once again toppled over. Lying in the grass, she stretched out her hand as if that would somehow reach them. "Please! Please…" she dropped her head after they had faded away. "…Who are you?" she inhaled a shaky breath, tears hitting the dirt beneath her, "Who am I?"
Crawling to her knees, her head hung low as she stared at her bandaged hands. Did she belong anywhere? If that person, whoever they were, didn't stay, did that mean she had nowhere to go? She heard the echoing sound of her bones cracking as she balled her hands. Had her bones been broken? What happened to her? The sound of running water caught her attention, bringing her head up she looked around. Placing a hand on the ground, she slowly pushed herself to her feet, catching herself as she almost fell over again. Since she had nowhere else to go, she would go to wherever the sound of the water was coming from.
Her bloody feet carried her for who knows how long before she finally found the source of the noise. A beautiful flowing stream, complete with waterfall. Coming to the edge of the water, she flopped down slowly and placed her feet in the water. She winced at the stinging sensation, but soon relaxed. Leaning over a little, she looked at her reflection. The image was too distorted for her to get a clear view. With a huff, she splashed the water and leaned back. She had no idea what to do. Picking up a nearby pebble, she threw it into the water, listening to the plop sound it made as it broke the surface.
"I didn't expect anyone to be here," a calm voice spoke beside her.
She didn't bother looking up, maybe they would leave her behind to if she did. "I didn't expect to either."
"Do you mind if I sit?" the voice asked.
She silently motioned for them to take a seat beside her.
"What are you doing here?" they asked, picking up a pebble and skipping it through the surface of the stream.
"I don't know." Her eyes watched the pebble but never looked at who threw it. "I just, woke up here. I have no memory of how I got here, where I'm supposed to go…who I am. Nothing."
"Hm," they threw another pebble. "Sounds like a real dilemma."
"I thought I saw someone walking earlier, but when I tried to reach them, they faded away." She played with the pebble in her hands, watching it flip through her fingers.
There was a moment of silence, only interrupted by the sounds of nature around them. "Well, what do you remember?"
"I…" she paused, trying hard to remember. There was nothing. "Nothing. Just, darkness." She looked up to see someone standing on the opposite side of the stream. Like the last, they were hazy too but this one was clearly a woman. She gasped lightly and rubbed her eyes, trying to see if they were playing tricks on her. They had been.
"Something wrong?" they asked, having seen her reaction.
"N-No…uh, it was nothing. Just…I thought…" she paused and shook her head. "No, never mind, it was nothing."
There was another moment of silence before the voice beside her spoke again. "Hm, well if you don't remember who you are, where you're trying to go, or anything before now…we'll need to try something else right?" they didn't wait for her to answer, "Right."
It was sudden when she felt their touch. Her body tensed almost instantly but relaxed after feeling the comfort and love. Their touch was hot, burning and it stung but for some reason, she liked it. She liked the feeling of the difference in their temperatures, although, how they could find a spot on her body not covered in bandages was beyond her. Then, it happened. Flashes of people running through her mind. They were just glimpses, but she could see every one of their faces. It wasn't clear, but they weren't as hazy either. She didn't remember who they were by name, but at least she could see their faces now; she had something to go on!
When their touch left her body, she quickly looked over to them, chancing that glance she hadn't wanted to before in fear they would fade away. A man with silver hair and a headband covering his left eye. "Wait…" she paused and knitted her brow together, thinking. "I know you! Why are you here?"
The man shrugged, "For some reason, you think I'm full of wisdom."
"You, you gave me advice once. I think." She tried to remember but couldn't.
"Hm, doesn't really sound like me," he smiled and vanished from her side.
Her big eyes looked sad, she had never even known his name. With a heavy sigh, she got up painfully. It was time to move on, she still had so much to figure out.
Again her feet began to ache and bleed as she walked. The pain was becoming too much for her to bear and she collapsed. Her vision was becoming blurred, unable to focus on the hazy figure coming towards her. There was no use, she couldn't keep them open, she was feeling so very sleepy; so very heavy. That's all she wanted. She wanted sleep; to sleep for eternity. While she mused the thought over in her head, she could see a light; a light that would blind you if looked at directly. What could be causing such a light? Her heavy hand reached out; she desperately wanted to know. Suddenly a tan hand clasped itself over her own seemingly pale one. Her eyes flashed open and she was met with a pair of wondrous blue eyes.
"Who are you?" she asked as she sat up, awkwardly taking her hand out of his.
His blonde hair moved to the rhythm of the wind and he smiled down at her, but said nothing.
She looked at him strangely, "Are you not going to talk to me? Because, that's kind of rude."
Silently, he helped her to her feet, catching her when she almost fell.
"Um…" she tried to avoid his eyes, "Thanks."
He gave her nothing but a toothy, confident grin.
In her extreme moment of awkwardness, she pulled away from him so quickly that she tripped over her own feet. Looking up, she noticed that he was smiling down at her, almost like he was laughing at her internally. She pursed her lips in a huff, but didn't push away his hand to help her up. It had suddenly dawned on her, she didn't even know her own name. Looking up at the blonde who was only taller than her by mere inches, she wondered what his name was. And what was the name of the man who had helped her before? The echoing sound of her bones cracking as she pulled her hand away made the young man cringe.
"Thanks again," she said softly, looking down at the swaying grass.
"Hey, no problem!" His voice rang in her ears. It was loud, annoying and full of cheer.
She snapped her head to look at him, "You can talk!?"
He nodded, "Yeah, but there wasn't really anything for me to say before."
"Why are you here? What's your name? Who am I?" she began to grill him for information, getting in his face.
"Whoa, whoa! Calm down," he said, gently pushing her away. "I'm only here because you needed someone strong to help you up."
She glared at him, "What kind of Buddhist stuff is that?"
"Hey, don't ask me. I'm just here to do a job," he shrugged and slowly faded away.
"Wait!" She tried to reach out to him, but when her hand touched him he was nothing but vapor.
She hung her head. They all had disappeared. Was anyone ever going to stay and give her answers? She still didn't know anything! In fact, she felt like she knew less now than when she first woke up in the darkness. Her feet began to move on their own now, shaky, but stable. She wasn't falling over anymore, she didn't need help to stand anymore; she had the strength now. Another pass of the breeze and she watched her long hair billow around her. Where was she going now? Did she know? Did anyone know? She needed someone to tell her something! Anything! She just wanted answers! She wanted to know why she couldn't remember anything, why everything hurt all over, why there was blackness. She just wanted to know!
Her feet shuffled to a stop. The air was suddenly so cold and harsh. She could feel it tugging at her white robes and whipping her hair about wildly. Somehow though, it felt so, at home. This feeling of bone chilling cold biting at her skin felt peaceful. Her head tilted to the side curiously, the grass here was frosted over; the blue of the ice glinting under the sun. She looked up from her feet slowly, seeing the whole field frozen solid. Slowly she made her way through the icy waves, feeling their smoothness rub against the bandages on her legs. As she got closer to something, the wind picked up, raging around her like a tornado of ice. She put her arms up to shield her face from being cut, suddenly feeling the terrible sting just like her legs. Her fingers cracked again as she clenched her fists tighter and continued to move.
A raging hurricane was happening around her by the time she found the epicenter of the ice. Snow was everywhere; it blanketed the entire meadow in white and blue. In the middle of the icy valley, she was amazed at the massive block of ice sitting in front of her. It was the eye of the storm, untouched by the frost it created. She stepped through the shield of cold and had to crane her neck to get a good view. There were so many cracks in the ice and a shadow could be seen within it. She stepped even closer, squinting her eyes to try and get a better look. An ear shattering screech echoed around her, causing her to cover her ears and wait for it to stop.
When the noise had finally ceased, she ventured another look. The shadow seemed to take the shape of some kind of animal. It was to blurry to see properly though. Placing a gentle hand on the decaying ice, she felt a sudden jerk and a glowing blue eye staring back at her through one of the many cracks. She quickly moved away, stumbling and falling onto her butt. There was such a power behind the stare that she had never felt before! What was in that block of ice? She hissed in pain as she realized her weight on her injured body parts. Taking her eyes off the creature bound in the ice, she was equally surprised when a single claw tried to make its way through her face. She was lucky when something grabbed her and pulled her away, even though the claw couldn't reach her through the small hole.
Looking over her shoulder, she saw two young men standing beside each other. One was tan with dark red hair, sparkling green eyes, years and years worth of bags around his eyes and a scar on his forehead. The other was pale, with black hair all a mess and sapphire blue eyes. "Thanks….whoever you are."
"Don't mention it!" the boy with the blue eyes answered with a cheeky grin.
Slowly she wobbled to her feet, dusting off snow, "I've been meeting a lot of people with blue eyes today." She looked up and noticed they were outside the radius of the snow storm, where the warm glow of the sun beamed its rays upon her pale skin.
"Ya don't say! Guys with blue eyes are kinda awesome," he paused and slapped the back of his hand playfully against the other's chest, earning a grunt, "Sorry man. Guess you're outta luck."
She giggled at his innocent nature, coughing suddenly. The two boys looked at her with worry in their eyes but she waved them off. Looking down at her hand, she was surprised to see blood pooling in it. Looking up, she rubbed the blood away on the back of her robes, "Don't worry, I'm fine. I think the cold just got to me. I've been out in this sun all day ya know."
"Oh yeah, what are you looking for?" the blue eyed boy asked.
"How did you know I was looking for anything?" she asked, her head tilting curiously.
He shrugged, "Well, you don't go wandering out in the sun all day long unless you're looking for something. Am I right?" he looked over to the red head.
In silence, he looked to the blue eyed boy and then looked away.
She looked between the two, "Is something wrong with him?"
"Ya know, I have no clue. He's been like this ever since we got here." He scratched his head, staring at the red head.
She got close to the young man, eyeing him up and down, earning an uncomfortable stare from him. "What's your name?"
He didn't answer.
"Like I said, he hasn't said anything since we got here." The blue eyed boy sighed.
"Hm, so why are you guys here?" she took her gaze away from the red head.
"You needed someone to give you answers." Both of them were astonished to hear the voice of the red headed man speak.
She gently smacked him upside the head, 'Then why didn't you give them to me when I just asked you a question?"
"It wasn't one you needed answered." He ignored the gesture with a stoic expression.
The blue eyed boy shook a finger, smiling, "That's right!" he turned to his partner, "Man, you're a good guy to have around. I had totally forgotten why we were here."
Both boys held out a hand, a ball of light appearing in each one, only growing brighter when they were put together. She was amazed by the light. It wasn't like the last one she had seen. That light felt cold and lonely, this one though, this one felt warm and bright. This was a light she was willing to walk into. Slowly she reached out to the light in their joint hands, captivated by the voices that emanated from it. Some of the voices sounded familiar to her, like the voice of the man by the stream, the one who had helped her stand and these two. There were other voices to, ones she didn't recognize and images were slowly starting to pass through the light. Things were being shown to her, told to her! She gently took each of their hands and placed them over her heart, feeling the warmth envelope her like a pair of strong arms wrapping around her.