Keiko's POV

The days went by slowly for me, I been here for over a month now and in a few more months I would be married to a man I could not stand at all. Married to a man like him, as I glared hateful at him from my spot on the couch. He couldn't get any more boring and dull, he would work on endless paperwork, talk to even more boring people, and listen to the most boring individuals.

I took naps to pass the time but still time went by slowly. It seems just like how slow time goes by here little here changes too. Some things have changed like that girl, Sakura left so I didn't have to deal with any more of her annoying questions. He also stopped asking me questions and he has been way kinder to me which is gross; however, it could be some trick but I'm not really sure. I was also able to find out more information about that girl, Yoko I fought and apparently she able to materialize one's own fear. It was an interesting but dangerous talent. If I hadn't used up all my chakra then it would have been bad but other than that it has been quiet, no more incidents since that day when Gaara stuck my finger in his mouth and started licking it…...

It was better not to think too much about it the memory made me feel weird and already I could feel my face heating up. I turned my face away from Gaara and decided looking out the window was a better idea. Like always nothing eventful was happening outside and I could feel myself dozing off and allowed my eyelids to slide close. It was really peaceful here and it reminded me of another time somewhere else but where... I never did finish my thought before falling asleep.

I woke up feeling freely refreshed compared to before but still a little groggy. I rubbed my eyes and stretched my back, yawning quite loudly. The first thing I noticed was Gaara was not in his office and it was also after lunch time which was unusual but something probably came up. Him not being here was probably an opportunity for me to investigate the village but I wasn't sure if I wanted to.

I sighed, I really wasn't acting like myself anymore, I felt like I was losing myself but at the same time remembering who I used to be. I sighed again, maybe I was going stir crazy because I wasn't one to sit idle for long periods of time doing nothing. I was always on missions because I was just a thing, weapon, and a monster to be used and when the war ended and peace treaties were made with the numerous lands I was no longer needed. I was thrown aside when I wasn't usable anymore. Why need a dangerous and uncontrollable weapon if you don't need it even Konan thought the same. A sighed once more, at least I fulfilled my promise although, I can't really recall what the promise was now. I just know I fulfilled it but what was it again….

I tried to remember but I couldn't. The only promise I could remember was the promised I made to be that kid's sensei but Gaara forbade me to and told me he would take care of it. I wondered if the kid every found a new sensei to help him become stronger for the chunin exams, they were only a month away now. It bothered me I couldn't help the kid out but I couldn't do much Gaara had kept me on a tight leash. But what really bothered me that I couldn't remember my promise to her, my memory was so spotty.

A cold breeze blew in from the open window and I dismissed my thoughts if I can't remember then maybe I wanted to forget. The breeze felt good against my skin and helped ease my thoughts, maybe I would take another nap I still felt groggy. I flopped back down on the couch and enjoyed the warmth from the sunlight which filtered through the window. Its rays felt good against my skin and I could feel it lulling me back to sleep but it would not be a peaceful sleep. Memories refusing to be forgotten would haunt me in the form of dreams and they were not happy memories.

My pace was slow and grueling, my eyes swept across the ruined landscape searching for movement. My ears were perked for the slightest of sounds. Each step was painful but it was not the physical pain that tormented me. I just wanted the pain to stop, for anything to soothe it and the only thing which eased my pain was…...

"Wah wahhhh waaa waaaahh"

And there it was, a baby's cries, it was a lullaby to my ears. My lips peeled back revealing rows of sharp and terrible teeth, I knew it was wrong but I couldn't stop. The pain wouldn't allow me to stop and I pushed myself forward in the direction of the sound. When had i become like this?... I couldn't think straight something other than me compelled me forward.

I bounded effortlessly over the wreckage and dead bodies in search of that noise. I knew this wasn't me, but the haze over my mind didn't allow for rational thought. I wanted to destroy and dismember everything to relieve myself of this torment, it didn't matter what it was as long as it quelled this need, a need which didn't belong to me but someone else. Who's need was it?...

'Shhhhh, you must be quiet so the monster won't find us" a mother panicked trying to hush her baby and I knew I was not too far away. I landed in a patch of sandy dirt nearby clear of rubble and the baby still wailed at the top of lungs, the mother unable to quiet it. They resided in the building in front of me.

The building had survived the initial attack and it was slanted and ready to collapse but it seemed to refuse to do so as if it knew it sheltered two lives inside. I crept upon the building imagining myself taking the lives of both mother and child, imagined myself watching the life leave their eyes and the relief it would give me.

I failed to notice the male right away. He charged towards me wielding a flimsy piece of wood in his hands, he could have escaped but he chooses to die instead trying to save what was probably his wife and child.

"Die, foul beast" he screamed swinging the wood at me. His anger and determination amused me, I dodged it and attacked. I sunk my teeth into his throat, which would free the ruby liquid from its container. When I released my hold the hot liquid drenched my face and ground with fresh blood. I watched his final moments, his body jerking in the throes of death, the sounds of him choking on his own blood, and the hatred for my being fading from his eyes. The sounds and sights were filling but not entirely satisfying.

I heard the wail of the baby again and moved closer to the building. Ending the life of something so innocent and precious might end this madness I was in. I entered the building, my weight causing the floorboards to creak ominously. I walked further into the building searching for it and then I found it.

The moon's light illuminated the mother who laid huddled in the corner. Her body was covered in grime, blood, and dirt. She clutched her child tightly to her body since it was the last defense for protecting the child that laid in her arms. When she spotted me her body went rigid in fear of not of her own life but for her child's life. The scene before me was pitiful. 'Disgusting' I thought but it didn't feel like my thought.

I took a step closer stepping into the moon's light which filtered through the holes of the damaged building and something odd happened. The fear dissipated from her eyes and recognition filled them when the woman saw my body in the moon's light, it confused me but it would not matter I would kill them either way.

'Kill, destroy, and end' the man whispered in my head causing me extreme agony. I shook my head vigorously trying to rid the man's voice from my head. 'End them' he whispered again. I just wanted it to end, it hurt so much. I hated his voice, why couldn't I be left alone.

Yes, like before alone, in that forest. It was peaceful there with the creatures that inhabited that place, it was my place. But then there was so much blood and death if i didn't leave that day it wouldn't have happened. And there was the fire that consumed everything that still lived. It hurt so bad...

"Keiko" the woman said while one hand reached towards me. Is that my name, how did she know my name? The fog was lifting from my mind but it hurt so bad and I lashed out snapping my teeth at her hand. She pulled back at the last second, fear returning to her eyes.

"What's happened to you? Whose blood is that's" she whispered.

The man's voice returned, 'they are all evil' he whispered. I didn't want to, I whined miserably backing up cloaking myself once again in the darkness. 'Kill her and the child, they are the same as all the others' the man snarled in my head. Pain seared through my body. 'The madness will leave if you just listen' he whispered soothingly.

If I listened maybe it will go away. I took a step forward and then another, I just had to listen and all my pain would leave, I bared my teeth menacingly. But then the oddest thing happen which caused me to stop in my tracks, the small child she clutched so protectively stumbled towards me.

'Why did she let go?' I asked myself.

"Noo" she pleaded trying to reach her child but was unable to, her foot was stuck in the rubble. "Keiko, please I beg of you spare my child" she pleaded again, tears falling from her eyes. "I know this isn't the real you, I know you are in there, so please spare my child". The child crawled closer to me, to the thing which would kill it.

"If you can hear me know that we deserve what we got but please the child is innocent of any crime that was committed, so please" she begged.

The child who cried so furiously before was making happy gurgling noises, its hands reaching towards me in awe. It was so small and innocent, I felt a single tear run down my face. It was the first tear I had since that day in the forest was on fire.

The man voice returned commanded me to do as he bid. I stood there watching the child crawl closer to me, I just had to listen.

I couldn't stop the tears; I was so sad. I could hear someone, they sounded far away. What were they saying?

"Shhhhh. I'm right here. It's just a bad dream" he whispered softly. His voice was nice it wasn't like the other man's voice. I wanted to see this person, the person who spoke so kindly to me but I was scared what if he hated me too. Because I was a monster.

"I'm scared" I hiccupped, I couldn't stop the tears.

"Scared of what?" he asked.

"That you'll hate me when I open my eyes."

"Why would that make me hate you?" he asked.

"I've done terrible things. I've hurt so many people, you'll know when you see my eyes…" I hiccupped again, the tears wouldn't stop flowing.

"I promise I won't hate you so open your eyes." He said. Could I trust him? He sounded so believable, I hesitantly opened my eyes.

My eyes met his and I couldn't detect any disgust or hatred when he saw my eyes, why when everyone else saw a monster?

"Thank you, Gaara" she hiccupped while burying her head in his chest. His hands instinctively wrapped around her caging her in his arms and then she hesitantly wrapped her own arms around him so her hands clutched the back of his shirt. He realized how right it felt her being in his arms but her continued sobbing distracted him from that thought. He was lost as what to do in order to comfort her but he remembered how he seen others do it and brought one hand up to her head and begin stroking her hair.

The moment he started stroking her hair she let out an audible sigh and her crying slowly subsided. After a while, he felt her breathing return to normal and he assumed she had fallen asleep in his arms. He had work to do but he decided he could slack off for a little bit and he carefully readjusted himself in order not to wake her so he could lie down on the couch with her.

He felt comfortable lying on the couch with her basking in the sun's warmth while a cool breeze drifted in from the open window. He leaned his head back on the arm of the couch and allowed himself to relax. He didn't fail to notice that she called him by his name for the first time which made him smile slightly and he continued to stroke her hair thinking about before she came here.

Every day was dull and boring but when she arrived she caused nothing but problems and more work and she only been here for little over a month now. When he first saw her he felt she was nothing more than a doll but he was wrong. Everything she did was interesting, she was so curious about everything and he was sure if he questioned her about things she would pretend she knew when she actually didn't. Then there were the wounds and scars that littered her back which indicated she did not come from a loving home and that should have made her mean but it didn't. She may act mean and tough but she wasn't.

And then there was Shukaku, the tailed beast that resided within him. If he could sum up what he was like in two words then it would be a drunken pervert. He always feared Shukaku taking over his body while he slept but after the war, he and Shukaku were on friendlier terms but still he disliked sleeping. However, with her, he felt at peace and he could tell Shukaku did as well and who would have thought such a small thing could tame such a fierce demon he still struggled with. Her in his arms made him so sleepy and he slowly drifted off to sleep and memories he was forced to forget would come back to him in the form of dreams reminding him of something important.

"Who are you" he snarled.

"Me?" the girl asked innocently pointing to her face.

"Yes you, don't play games with me" he snarled again making his sand squeeze her painfully.

"I came here to kill you, but I don't wanna." She said playfully, she didn't seem affected by the pain.

"Sending you, don't make me laugh" he snarled out.

"What's wrong with me, huh?" she said.

"Sending a child to do their dirty work, how pathetic," he said.

"Child huh, you think that ill of me. I could kill you…." She said her voice losing its childish tone.

"Then try," he said.

"I said I don't want to"

"I'm going to kill you so why not?" he asked.

"Because…"

"I asked you a question" he snarled, giving another painful squeeze.

"Because it's sad" she whispered.

"What's so sad?" he asked and started to throw her around like a ragdoll. He hated her attitude.

"The only reason they want you dead is because they fear you" She stated.

"And you're not?" he asked, suspending her in the air.

"No" she answered.

"Why not?" he asked. They were all scared of the monster of him.

"Because I understand." She said sadly.

"How would you?" he snapped. "No one could understand how I feel"

"Because unlike you, I am a real monster" she responded.

"You a monster, you're just a little girl and why are you covering your eyes for? What are you hiding? If you don't tell me, I'll kill you" he said real anger seeping in his voice.

"My eyes tell those who see them I am a monster," she said and the purple ribbon fell away revealing to mismatched eyes, one green and one blue.

"I still don't see a monster," he said.

"Then you're stupid, brat" she spat.

"How am I a brat? I should kill you for lying to me." He snapped.

"Then do it" she snapped back.

"I don't want to…. Because you're not scared of me like the others…." he said his voice getting quiet.

"Huh?" she asked.

"I said you're not scared of me so I don't want to." He yelled.

"You should, I might kill you one day, your friends, your family, and anything you hold dear." she said her voice serious.

"Well, I don't…. Don't have friends, never had them. My mother is dead, my father hates me, and my siblings are scared of me." He said turning his face away from her.

"Friends… aren't that great but a family I never had that so I can't say but I can be your family" she said perking up at the end of her sentence.

"I can't be your family; we're not related," he said confused by her words.

"Yeah we can." She said smiling.

"How?" he asked still confused.

"Put me down and I'll tell you." She said.

"Okay," he said, dropping her.

"Oucchhh. That hurt." She whined.

"Well?" he said getting close to her face curious about how they could be a family without being related.

"Like this," she said kissing him on the lips.

"What was that for!" he yelled falling backwards while covering his lips with one hand while the other rested on the ground. He was blushing like mad.

"Don't you know moms and dads aren't related but they're still family, silly," she said giggling. "Since we're going to be family; I need to know your name," she said still giggling.

"Gaara of the Desert" he mumbled still blushing.

"Gaara of the Desert," she murmured back.

He woke up and realized he had met her 10 years ago but how could he forget... The more he thought about it the more the memory came back in bits and pieces. He was forced to forget he knew that much now but he wondered if she remembered and he had a feeling she was forced to forget to. He would remember the rest eventually but now that he thought about it, she had stolen his first kiss and was his first crush. 'What an ill-mannered brat she was' he thought. The next thing he focused on was what she said about them becoming a family.

"Family," he said out loud. The idea seemed nice and made him want one with her. The hard part was trying to persuade her into wanting one again, she was different now than she was back then; she was now a skittish, untrusting, and cankerous adult. He sighed loudly it would not be easy he didn't even know what her past 10 years were like. He wished he could go back in time to when he was a child and kept those men from taking her away but he couldn't he just need to focus on the present. This time, he would not let her slip through his fingers, he would create this family with her that she spoke of. He could feel her stirring and figured he probably woke her up.

She lifted her head, her mismatched eyes opened making contact with his own eyes. He could tell sleep still clung to her and she was unaware of her position and what had occurred before she slept. After staring at him for a moment and realizing where she was, she panicked and tried to scramble off of him and out of his embrace but he kept her pinned to his chest unwilling to let her go.

'Making me feel embarrassed as a kid, stealing my first kiss, and making me fall in love with you. I want some payback for what you did to me all those years ago." He thought as he stared into her panic stricken eyes.

"What are you doing?" she asked squirming in his arms.

"Do you know…" he asked.

"Know what?" she asked still struggling to get away. She felt uncomfortable. How could she fall asleep in on him like this, in a position like this? She currently laid on top of him, her face inches away from his own. But try as she might she couldn't get away since he one arm securely wrapped around the small of her back.

"Do you know to be a family you don't need to be related?" he asked.

His question confused her, "What do you mean? I'm confused" she asked.

"Like this," he said cupping her face with one hand while he leaned up brushing his lips against hers. His mouth moved against hers gently and the feel of his lips against hers was making her feel odd again and she didn't like it. It was soft and slow and she couldn't help but notice how good his lips felt against hers. She kept telling herself to pull away but her body refused to listen to her as if it were desperate for his touch. He finally pulled away from her, opening his eyes which were now full of need and want.

"Why?" she whined confused by his actions and the strangeness he caused her to feel every time he touched her like this.

"Why what?" he asked somewhat lazily like he got a taste of something he liked and was thinking about having more. "The kiss you mean?" he asked and before she could say anything else his mouth meshed against hers again but it was not gentle like last time.

She had no time to react to the kiss and before she knew it he sought to deepen the kiss as he ran his tongue across her plump lips seeking access to her mouth. He nipped roughly at her lips when she refused to give him access causing her to gasp involuntarily allowing his tongue to delve inside her moist cavern.

She knew she should be fighting him and whatever strange feeling he brought in her but she couldn't get her body to listen to her head. And the longer the kiss ensued the more she allowed herself to be lulled into the sensation finally succumbing and ultimately surrendering herself to him. She let her eyes flutter close and began to timidly kiss him back.

When he felt her respond to him, he was relentless. His hand which rested at the small of her back traveled to cup her ass while he teased her tongue with his own. When she fought him for control he gave her ass as quick and firm squeeze causing her to moan into the kiss and once again allowing him to dominate her. The reaction delighted him and he craved more. He pushed his tongue further into her mouth tasting and also taunting her becoming rough; however soon she craved oxygen and pounded her small fists against his chest.

"Need…. Air…" she gasped when their lips parted for few seconds. He didn't want to and so with a sigh, he pulled away while she gasped for air hungrily. He watched her intently fully satisfied with himself for what he did to her which was making her heaping pile of goo on top of him. He was mesmerized by how red her face became with embarrassment, how she struggled to breathe properly again, and her eyes were half-lidded from the pleasure he had given her. He noted saliva had pooled in the corner of her mouth from their intense kiss and he swiped his thumb across her lips sensually to remove it. The slight brush of his thumb caused her to shiver which made his smirk widen and realize something new. She was very sensitive to touch and wondered if it was just his touch she reacted to like this.

'She looks perfect like this' he thought gingerly. 'A complete and utter mess because of one simple kiss, I can't imagine what she would look like and what her reaction would be if I went a bit further' he hummed to himself. He wanted to do more but he felt someone approaching his office so he would have to stop here for now...

"Your face looks lovely like this and I don't mind if others see us but someone is coming up the stairs as I speak. I don't think you want others to see you like this do you, Keiko?…..." he said his voice husky and a smirk still gracing his features. He didn't have to wait long for her to remove herself from him and scurry to the other side of the couch away from him but he was a little distraught that she was quick to remove herself from him. But anyone walking in would know what they were just doing since her lips were still red and moist from their kiss and they would know she belonged to him

He watched her rub her lips furiously, a scowl and glare replacing the heated expression she once had. 'Ahh, her eyes immediately go back to that hateful glaring she did all morning. Well, I don't mind it as long as she still looks at me' he thought.

"Your face looks good like that too," he said which only made her scowl and glare worse.

There was a slight knock at the door before Kankuro walked in. He made a face when he saw Keiko and then Gaara but he chose not to comment this time but he would undoubtfully report it to Temari.