Destiny of the Cursed
Chapter 22: Fight!
Flashback:
"A taijutsu match?"
"Yes. No jutsu, no weapons or any other. Just hand-to-hand combat. If I win…you will have to go out with me."
Katana remained unfazed. "Alright. But if I win, never show your face again to me, unless it means business."
They shook on it. "Deal."
End Flashback
"C-come on guys!" A nervous chuckle escaped Naruto.
Sweat poured down his face nervously. One minute, he was walking beside Sakura-chan, feeling so giddy from their little 'date' and the next thing he knew, Shikamaru and the others were calling him for help.
Being the 'nice guy' he was, he dashed towards them, not knowing what could possibly be the problem. So here he is right now, in the middle of his two friends, desperately pleading them to stop the fight.
He glanced at both of them hopefully. Katana paid him no attention as she did a battle stance. "Get out of the way, Naruto." It wasn't a request, but more of an order. Her voice held no amusement. He gulped.
"W-we're all friends, right? Come on! This is silly!" He persuaded them again. Sand wrapped around his torso and pushed him back. Naruto panicked. "G-Gaara! You can't be serious!" The redhead spared him a last glance before facing his opponent. "Naruto, I'm sorry but…move out of the way." Gaara positioned his left foot forward, arms on guard in front. They were indeed serious. Left with no choice, the blond jinchuuriki joined the rest of their friends at the side.
"Well?" asked Chouji.
Hearing Naruto's dejected sigh as he went closer, their faces fell. "Sorry, I couldn't stop them." apologized Naruto when he saw their disappointment.
"It's not like they'd listen to anyone anyway." It was Temari who spoke. "Believe me, I've tried a lot of times and failed."
"Oi, woman, isn't protecting your brother your job?" asked Shikamaru. The wind mistress rolled her eyes at him. "Just as I said, crybaby. They won't listen to anyone anyway." A hush stopped their argument and made them turn. The fight has begun.
You'll be sorry for this, Gaara…Katana sent the first punch at Gaara's face, to which he barely dodged. He jumped back and caught Katana's foot just in time. Using his hold as leverage, Katana swung her other foot towards his head.
He blocked and crossed her legs. She spun, flowing with the movement and thrust her fist up on him again. Gaara ducked and let go of her. Landing well on her feet, Katana blew away a strand of hair that covered her vision. She noticed his heavy breathing.
"Tired already?" she mocked. "I'll end this quick for you then."
Everyone knew how Gaara's stamina was easily depleted, therefore leading to dislike strenuous activities like close combat.
So, it quite baffled them why he would propose such a stupid thing.
Katana disappeared from Gaara's line of sight. His eyes widened for a second then narrowed. He scanned his surroundings and focused on finding her chakra. He found it with ease.
But unfortunately, it was charging from behind him. He jerked around and ducked again, Katana's foot missing its target.
"Damn it!" Katana's attacks continued pursuing Gaara, until she realized she was the only one attacking. She leapt backwards and the two of them evened their irregular breaths.
"Why aren't you attacking me?" she demanded angrily. Gaara raised a non-existent eyebrow in amusement or smugness of some sort. While Gaara thought of an answer, Katana wasted no time waiting for him and attacked again. He just dodged, ducked and sidestepped, like playing tag with a child.
Katana growled. "What are you, a coward?" She aimed at him again and missed big time. She struggled with keeping her focus, but her emotions got in the way. She remembered the feeling…remembered how it hurt her.
A frustrated yell came from her mouth as she failed to land another attack on him. "Man up and hit me!"
While Katana charged for his front, he sidestepped and leaned in, their faces inches apart. In alarm, Katana pulled back and lost her balance. She tumbled backwards, gasping for air. "W-What the hell was that for?"
"What happened?" asked Ino, squinting. "He didn't hit her, did he?"
"No…" replied Shino so suddenly, it startled all of them. "T-then…w-why d-did Ka-katana-chan f-fall?" pointed out Hinata curiously.
Gaara bent down a bit and reached out his hand to help her up. "Are you okay?" She swatted his hand away and stood up. For the second time she asked, "Why won't you fight back?"
Gaara stood up as well and gazed at her. "I don't want you to be hurt." It took some time before the answer was registered by Katana, but her reaction wasn't good. Fury sent her expression ablaze. "You don't want me… to be hurt?"
You just weren't…any use to me anymore…
You bring more trouble…than help.
Just not...any use…
She charged, losing control of herself. "Fraud! You're nothing but a liar!" Her speed doubled with every punch or kick she sent, giving Gaara a hard time dodging each one.
"Cocky Bastard!" screamed Katana, aiming a punch. This time, it landed hard on Gaara's ribs, throwing him off balance. "Don't think you can toy with me!" Katana didn't wait for him to recover and rained him down on every attack that she can land on.
"I am not some kind of weak", A punch on his stomach, "pathetic girl!"
"So stop…!" Another blow on his cheek.
"Treating me…!" A kick.
"Like one!" shouted Katana furiously.
Temari was growing anxious and worried as she watched Katana beat up her brother into a pulp. "Why won't he defend himself?" she croaked out. The brunette's friends were in slight panic as well.
Shikamaru paled. "Crap. I think his death wish just came true."
"She's losing it…" muttered Kiba.
"Hn."
"Damn it, if they listened to me in the first place, then this wouldn't ha—"
"Shut up, Naruto! None of that could change this now!"
"Don't you think we should stop them before it gets worse?"
"I agree. Violence simply does not solve anything."
"B-but, h-how d-do we s-stop t-them?"
"I hate you!" There was absolutely no hatred in the way she said it, unlike other people who treated him with disgust before. Gaara caught her eyes in a glimpse.
Anger, frustration, annoyance and pain mixed together but no hatred. Somehow…although his body hurt, he felt relief washing over him.
With another raged roar, Katana sent a blow to Gaara's direction. To her surprise, he fell forward and groaned in pain. She stared at the sight of him lying on the ground.
A slow triumphant smile took over her. She pointed at finger at him. "Hah! That's right, SUCKER!" Her heart raced. Revenge felt good on her hands…but not for long.
Another pained groan was heard from Gaara. She started to worry when Gaara still didn't get up after a moment. He didn't try to sit, stand, roll over or even flinch. She stared at him. "Oi, Gaara. The battle is still not over. Get up."
No reaction.
Gulping hard, she went closer. "Tch. What the hell are you doing? Stand!" She tried faking anger in her voice, hoping it would coax him into standing up. Again, he didn't. Her eyes widened in horror. What have I done to him?
"Gaara? Gaara! This isn't funny!" Her voice cracked. "Baka! S-Stand!" Falling on her knees, she took hold of his body and rolled him to his back. His cheeks were bruised and battered. "G-Gaara?" she whispered helplessly.
Black eye lids flickered weakly and look at her in an unsteady gaze. "W-what are you doing?" he asked in a raspy voice. She didn't understand what he meant at first. "I'm…s-still not giving up…so why did you stop attacking?" She realized what he was trying to say. He wanted her to beat him up. To take out her anger on him. Eyebrows furrowing, she barked at him. "Are you insane? I will not fight a person who is not even standing on his own feet. Now get up!"
"…" He fell silent.
All of a sudden his body racked so suddenly and blood sputtered out of his mouth. "Gaara!" Came Katana's worried gasp.
"I'm f-fine."
"No you're not!"
Beads of tears welled up on the corners of her eyes. "You call this fine? How dare you lie to me in your current state, you jerk!" Stubbornly, she helped him up. While supporting his weight, she shifted and did a hand seal, teleporting them to her apartment. Their friends blinked in bewilderment as they suddenly disappeared.
Katana stumbled left and right as she tried to support a heavy, leaning Gaara. "Seriously, how on earth did you manage to be a Kazekage when you can't even take a good beating?" she grunted.
"…I had my sand."
She turned to him and sighed. "Good point."
Successfully opening the door to her room, she barged inside and laid him down on her bed, relieving her shoulders of his weight.
She sat down on the edge of her bed, inspecting his face for anymore injuries. "Dummy, why didn't you dodge?"
She leaned in for a closer look and pressed a hand on his chest. He let out a muffled cry of pain. Katana retracted her hand hurriedly.
"Where does it hurt?"
"…Everywhere…"
"Excuse me?" Katana gaped at him, eyes wide. She undid the straps of his vest and bit her lower lip at the sight. He was full of bruises, red spots readily turning purple. Katana hastily put her hands above his injuries and they began to glow. "Didn't you even try to dodge?" she demanded. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
Gaara stared at the nimble fingers that skimmed over his skin, mesmerized. He shifted his gazed to her face. She was once again so sullen…full of regret and pain. He grimaced mentally. It wasn't her fault. Nothing of this was her fault!
'And yet she blames herself for all that happened…' Gaara thought.
"…Gaara?" Her whisper made him snap out of his trance. "What was written in that document?" He tilted his head to the side, confused.
"What document?"
Katana took a deep breath, concentrating her chakra on a particularly sore spot. "Temari told me something…back in Suna. She told me…that you had been working on this document…because you didn't want me to pay for I didn't do…"
With those key words, Gaara recognized the document that she spoke of. His expression grew dim. "Oh…"
"What was it about?"
"They wanted to put you to jail…"
She fell silent. "The elders pointed out the damage you did to Suna and found it suitable for you to be thrown into prison. I…didn't want that to happen… So I asked them to give me enough time to find evidence that will prove your innocence in that case…"
Still no words came out from her.
"I found out that Kazumi had something to do with it…Even though I didn't want to…I distanced myself from you to get her close enough for us to keep an eye on her movements. After you…went home, we found out that she was illegally using Suna's rare collection of poisons and antidotes for her own good."
"What happened to her? Is she…alright?" Gaara was taken aback by her question. After what Kazumi did to her, she still managed to ask him about her well-being.
"She's currently under the care of ANBU while waiting for her trial." He hesitated, contemplating on what his next words should be. "Katana, I…I'm sorry…"
Katana's hands clenched and the glow of chakra died down.
"I hate you …"
"What?"
Her head snapped up. She was in the brink of tears. "Do you know how much it hurts?" she all but yelled her calm demeanor crumbling down in front of him.
"Do you know how much it hurts to think that I'll lose you for the second time?"
"Do you know how much it hurts me when you and I fight? How much it hurts when you act like you don't know me?" Gaara was speechless.
"I hate how you make me feel so weak. I hate how you make me feel so nervous. I hate how you can make me feel so damn pathetic... I hate how you can make me cry like this! I just hate you!" she screamed, clutching her head helplessly.
Bitter tears traveled down her cheeks as she sobbed. And all Gaara could do was watch as the strong, confident Katana break down. Guilt and pain squeezed the life out of him and his aching heart. He hated seeing her like this…especially if the cause was he himself. "Katana…I never wanted to make you cry…And I never thought of you as weak." He explained, struggling to keep talking. "I just wanted you… to be safe." He choked out. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Gaara lowered his head in shame, his crimson locks falling over his forehead.
"…But most of all" he heard her whisper, in a softer and much more caring tone this time that it made him look up, "I hate…how you can hurt me so much…yet I can't bear to stay angry at you…" She met his eyes and smiled.
"I hate how I don't care about anything anymore…because I am so damn in love with you, Gaara."
His teal orbs widened. No one…had ever said that to him. Yes, she said it, a long time ago…But it just didn't feel the same way. Perhaps, she loved him as a friend. But right now when she had said it…It was just…perfect.
All worries and troubles escaped Gaara. He felt so lightheaded. Grabbing her hand, he tugged her to him and pulled her into a sweet embrace. She hugged him back tightly, relishing the rare moment they had.
"I love you too…" Gaara whispered, his breath leaving a tingling feeling in her ear. He reached out and wiped away the wetness in her face. "And I swear…I'll never do anything to hurt you ever again." Katana smiled weakly. Even though her eyes were still puffy from crying, Gaara found himself muttering the word 'beautiful' under his breath.
Katana snorted humorously. "Beautiful? Really?" A peck in the lips shut her up. She blushed a violent shade of red. "Very…" he said lowly, his deep voice sending chills down her spine.
Their faces inches closer. Katana could feel her face burning and she was pretty sure that there was a smirk in Gaara's face. Huffing in annoyance at his smugness, she closed the gap between them. Startled, Gaara fell on his back and onto the bed. After seconds of realization, he smiled and kissed back.
"Oh, I just remembered…" he said, breaking the kiss, "I have to attend a council meeting." Katana pouted in disappointment. He chuckled. "Don't worry; I'll still see you later for our date." He said, wearing his vest.
She followed him out of the room. "What date?"
He opened the door and turned to her before leaving. "You lost, so you're going out with me."
She blinked at him. "Lost? I did no—Oh…" A frown took its place on her expression.
He smirked. "I'll meet you later." Doing a hand seal, he vanished like dust in the air. She closed the door softly and a beam replaced the frown. Losing isn't as bad as it sounds… she thought and went to the kitchen to fix herself a snack.
End Chapter
Pretty dramatic chapter, huh? Well, it ended well, I guess. I hope you guys enjoy it and please keep up the reviews!
~KatanaSabaku