Chapter 7
Gaara was becoming more of a friend.
That was what marked the next few weeks as I wore myself with scanning futures to learn different taijutsu and to master different shinobi arts like throwing weapons and using chakra to run faster and climb sheer rock walls.
He was a consistent source of companionship every night. We would listen to music and I would teach him lyrics, sometimes we would watch one of the random movies on my computer even though he didn't understand the pop culture references. That usually led to discussions about the dimension I left behind which was seeming like less and less of a home.
Today Gaara was going to take a relatively long break, a whole hour, from paper work and appointments to spar with me or rather to let me hit the solid wall of sand that sprung to his defense even when I wasn't trying to hit him. After that I had another brawl with the academy students. First things first, however, were stretches and running.
It started after my first lap around the cliffs. The guards stationed at the village entrance would snicker and pretend to waddle or jiggle imaginary flab. It didn't take chakra enhanced ears to hear the insults, words like 'fatso' and 'freeloader' that slid smoothly off their tongues. I passed out of hearing range quick enough but the anger and humiliation burned as I raced around the outside of the village.
I was visibly upset, at least by ninja standards, as I ran past them again but a girl with long, straight, pretty brown hair signaled for me to stop and jogged over.
"Hey, ignore them, they're boneheads anyway." She gave a friendly smile. "There is an oasis to the north-west of here within the Village's jurisdiction if you would rather be uninterrupted in your routine." She shot a nasty look at the guards who rolled their eyes. "I used to run until I was ragged testing my endurance there a lot. It even has a decent water hole."
I looked off to the north-west, angling my body to run in that direction. "Thanks…uh…"
"Sari," she supplied helpfully.
"Thanks a bunch Sari-san. I'll be going then." In hindsight I should have recognized the gleam of triumph in her eyes but I just thought to myself about how helpful she was.
I never even noticed the genjutsu field I walked into nor did I realize that after a couple dozen meters I was running due west because of it.
Gaara Point of View:
I should have known immediately when the normally prompt and punctual Harper wasn't already at the training grounds for our spar that morning. Checking her room, which proved empty, my eyes fell on the small black rectangle she called an iPod. She would have brought it to the spar; she mentioned something about timing the future with it, but Harper didn't bring it to her daily exercise routine anymore.
I figured it was a bit of a blessing because I really did have a lot of work to do and I felt a bit irresponsible ditching everything to fight with some girl. I headed back to my office ignoring the pointed looks Temari and Kankuro shared as I entered. Was it because I wasn't gone the full hour or did I look as dejected as I felt? It would only lead to embarrassment to ask.
Time passed slowly after that. A part of me was concerned; was she alright? Had she lost track of time or was something preventing her from contacting me? Another part of me was angrier than I had been in some time. I could feel Shukaku snickering in the back of my mind in his private desert. She just blew me off. I had never experienced anger at a situation like this. Normally if someone could not make it to an appointment I let it slide and moved on, knowing that there was surely a good enough reason.
Temari seemed like she was about to say something when a knock interrupted any chance she may have has.
"Enter." I somewhat hoped it was Harper if only so that I could stop dwelling on her. Instead the woman who came in could only be described as pretty but average. The woman was a fairly skilled kunoichi who stopped ANBU training half way through after the demise of her mother and father. She took on the safer role of Assistant Sensei in the academy so she could provide for her younger sister.
Once called the name Mouse by her colleagues, she was soft spoken and timid, but only when in character.
"Kazekage-sama, I uh, it's just…"
"Drop the act Sena, he's not in a good mood." Kankuro said with a roguish smile and a wink, it really wasn't helping my overall attitude.
"Right, I'll make my concern brief then, knowing how valuable your time is." Sena said smoothly and quickly shifting gears. "I have reason to believe one of the Village's jounin perhaps more, have done something to cause harm to your guest, Harper-san." I hate to acknowledge the way my body became rigid with shock. "She was scheduled to come to the Academy to help the children with teamwork and while she has never been late, in fact she comes early, she didn't show at all. What's more, Matsuri-san and that crony of hers, Sari, have been staring out at the desert with disturbingly gleeful expressions."
I felt my hands clench into tight fists and sensed more than saw the sand shifting dangerously at my feet. Without even thinking I found myself using shunshin in a flurry of sand, landing just outside the village.
"G-Gaara-sama!" Sari sounded both nervous and excited. I ignored her. Instead I bent to the sand, placing both hands down into the particles hot enough to burn as they lay directly under the desert sun. Kankuro, who followed me without question, turned to her with a menacing look.
"Do you know which direction that Harper chick ran off to?" He was playing her the fool but it was still irritating to have to.
"She just headed to the oasis in the north-west…" the girl answered but there was a soft hitch in her voice and her chakra wobbled just enough to indicate that something was going on.
Concentrating more chakra into the palms of my hands I scanned for irregularities in the dunes in the specified direction. It didn't take long to come across the genjutsu trap lying in wait. It was sloppy work, something even a Chunin could have detected but Harper was not a Chunin.
"Kankuro." My brother nodded and we set off in the direction Harper was supposed to be in.
"Gaara, what's going on?" He had typical sensory strength and when we came within five steps of the field he hissed in shock. "Hey, that's Matsuri's chakra signature."
The information was unnecessary; Matsuri was my student so of course I knew that already. Nodding in acknowledgement I made to walk into the genjutsu but Kankuro thrust an arm in my path.
"It is fairly weak," I told him. "If it is dangerous I will break free of it. Besides I don't believe Matsuri means Harper any harm. I am curious to see what this is about." With that conviction I stepped past the obvious haze of chakra. Several steps into the genjutsu I veered to the west.
For two hundred yards the genjutsu confused my mind into a westerly direction. It seemed simple enough until everything changed.
No one likes you.
No one loves you.
Weak.
Pathetic.
Useless.
Stop wasting Gaara-sama's time.
Unworthy.
Slut.
Whore.
I quickly shattered the jutsu and took off at a faster pace with Kankuro running parallel to me three hundred feet to the left. At first I was just confused. What was the point of implanting those specific thoughts? Each one was an inaccurate assumption or even a bold faced lie. Moreover there was no reason for Matsuri to do this. The only possible purpose would be to torment Harper and from what I knew there wasn't enough interaction between the two women to warrant negative and hurtful actions.
After half an hour of running another genjutsu hit e like a sandstorm. My heart began to hurt like when I was a child and people were laughing all around me; shouting. I barely felt my steps slow as the words reached my ears.
Why don't you just die?
Die.
DIE!
No one will ever love you.
You will never be needed.
You will never be wanted.
All the Kazekage can give you is pity.
He could never love an outsider like you.
Just jump.
End it.
Pathetic.
Just die.
My heart continued to constrict and I wasn't sure if it was the genjutsu or the fact that Matsuri would create something like this. I was moving at a snail's pace through the sand; mind pondering the words the illusion shouted at me and why Matsuri would do such a thing.
"Kai!" Kankuro's voice rang out against the effects of the field. "Gaara," he was pale and I realized that Kankuro also experienced the genjutsu. "I think we should hurry." I was about to nod and take off at a decent clip but it hit me. Just jump. We were headed west…to the ravine.
"Fuck." It was unlike me to swear but I couldn't think of any more valid word to express my feelings at the time. I ran. I ran faster than I had in a very long time all the while forcing the genjutsu to stay out of my mind.
When we arrived at the ravine, Harper was standing at the edge; pale and shaking.
"Wait, don't…" I was too far away to release her and she just turned to me with dead eyes and a sad smile. Mouthing an apology she gave a small wave and took a dainty step backwards off the cliff and out range of the genjutsu.
As she began to scream in terror I jolted into action and ran to the ravine edge. Without thought or permission I tapped Shukaku's power to call sand from the earth layer upon layer. I heard a cry of pain but continued to add sand from the bottom until a giant sand dune crested the ravine; Harper sat cringing in pain at the top.
"Harper!" I can't say I truly understood the amount of relief I felt. Harper was someone I would consider a friend but shinobi die every day. She understood that and I did too, much better than she could. The woman slid down onto the lip of the ravine before standing carefully, her hand cradling her left forearm gently. Her eyes were still dead and her mouth was set in a grimace. I could have killed someone if there was anyone worth striking down in my vicinity.
I just didn't know why.
We were half way to Suna before I could calm down but just when I thought I was alright, Harper stumbled and pithed forward into the sand. Struggling to stand she pressed her weight onto her left arm and gasped in pain as if she were fighting not to scream.
Vision hazing red I lifted the three of us onto platforms of sand and sent us floating back to the village.
"Sorry." The word was whispered so quietly I thought perhaps I was imagining things but after a moment Harper repeated her apology sounding tearful and guilty and I snapped.
"How is any of this your fault?" My tone was harsh and my voice gravelly but I didn't regret it. "Did you provoke Matsuri?"
She laughed sounding a bit hysterical and at first I thought I frightened her. She had seen my past in that anime so it would make sense. "Every day. It's not intentional but it's not something I can help either. I get to call you familiarly and I seem close to you." She laughed again and I stopped the sand's forward momentum in confusion.
"That has nothing to do with Matsuri." How could that affect my former student at all?
"She thinks I am stealing you from her. She cares about you and some new chick comes in and starts hanging out with you, well most woman would trash talk or something, but Matsuri is a ninja so things scale I guess."
"You're not really making sense," I told her honestly. Couldn't she say it clearly?
Thankfully Kankuro was paying attention and after a baffled moment of his own he called from the sand he sat on, "I think she is saying Matsuri's jealous."
"Jealousy does not merit murder." I intoned, still confused as to why Matsuri would be jealous and also what murdering Harper would accomplish.
"Depends on how jealous you are and about what." Harper voice was quiet but I could still hear the rueful tone in her voice; as if she really thought she was doing something wrong.
Nudging the sand forward I thought on it, staring out at the desert contemplatively. Even if I was unaware when it all began I knew Matsuri was infatuated with me but I never gave her any indication that I was interested and I treated within the limits of friendship the whole time. Some of the things in that field indicated that Matsuri thought there was something between Harper and I but I couldn't even get close to harper without a wall of sand springing into existence. Not only that but there was still no headway in finding someone compatible with the jutsu that could save her life. If no one could be found Harper would die. If someone was found it would not be a under exaggeration to say she belonged to and with that person and vice versa.
If I could have found a way to fall in love with anyone, which hasn't happened yet, but if I could it might have been Harper. But it would only hurt to think on it. If only sand could block off my heart.
Temari was at the Village Entrance but I zoomed right past her, dropping Kankuro off to explain the situation. I really didn't think it was wise for me to be anywhere Matsuri could find me. Maybe one day she would understand that I was a man and not a list of adjective; today would not be a good day to lecture on it though.
In the meantime I brought the sand platform up into the Kazekage residence and deposited Harper on her bed. With unsure fingers I pushed a few buttons on the small item that played music and when the sound started I lowered myself to the floor with my back against her bedframe. I didn't plan to sleep but the soft song, almost like a lullaby, coming from the pig shaped music box sent me into a dream of deserts and friends and fun where Matsuri and Harper laughed together in the pool of an oasis, murder far from anyone's mind.
A/N: Bah another long chunk before updates. Sorry about that. Hit me up with a review if you like….it would help to know how things are seen by yall.