Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Bloody Tears	By : bloodyreign Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female Views: 1170 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in Naruto. I make no profits off this. I do not own the Fandom of Naruto, nor do I own any characters of Naruto.

Chapter List
- 4
- 5
- 6
I ran, as fast as I could. The man chasing me was someone I knew well. I didn’t want to face him--and he’d managed to stab me with an iron blade. I was injured, bleeding, barely able to breathe now. It was time for the Chuunin Exams, and now I was about to die. Or be raped. How nice. All the teammates that had come from other villages were here-at least most of them. A kunai hit me, square in the back, knocking me down. I screamed. It was iron. “No, no you won’t! I won’t let you!” I yelled, getting to my feet and running. “I won’t!” I ran harder, faster, through the trees. A path cleared before me and I tripped over something, falling hard. I got to my hands and knees, looked up slightly. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone. I scrambled to my knees, looking toward the boy that had caught my attention.
It was dark, very dark, but my eyes could easily make out his features, even though I had yet to be able to activate them. He had red hair and light, light teal eyes. A “love” kanji on his forehead and a giant gourd on his back. His arms were crossed and he was wearing dark clothing. He screamed both “desert” and “dangerous,” but I didn’t feel he would hurt me. His eyes were dead, with a small, tiny bit of curiosity in them.
I looked back as I heard the other man nearing me. I tried to stand, but the wound in my back made that next to impossible. I crumbled back down to my hands and knees, gasping for air and coughing up blood. He must’ve hit a lung with his first attack. I turned just in time to see him crash through the trees--and get caught by a large amount of sand. My eyes widened and the sand tightened around his body. He screamed, but it was too late--blood splattered everywhere, all around me, but not hitting me. I looked over to see that the other boy had raised one hand, eyes hard and intent on my grandfather. His hand fell and what remained of my grandfather fell to the ground while the sand retreated to inside his gourd. He turned his back and started to walk away.
“W-wait,” I said softly. He didn’t stop, so I repeated it again. “Pl-please, wait!”
He stilled.
I stood, stumbling a bit, barely able to remain on my feet. “I-I want . . . I want to thank you.”
He started to walk off again.
I ran to stand in front of him, pleading with my eyes. He was almost exactly my height, maybe a centimeter taller. “Please. I want to repay you for your troubles. If you’ll follow me?”
He inclined his head ever so slightly in a way I took to mean “yes” and when I turned and started leading him back to my home, he followed.
I went inside, inviting him in, as well. He stood awkwardly by the door, studying me with barely contained curiosity. I scurried around my kitchen. I loved to cook and I was very good at it. In less than a half-hour, while he stood there patiently and not moving, I had two dozen cupcakes made. I put them in two containers and walked to him, carrying them. “Take them. For you and your team.”
A moment passed. I didn’t think he’d take them, but he reached his arms out and took them from me.
I turned. “One more thing,” I said, and retrieved the newly-made boxed cake from my fridge. I’d planned to keep it until tomorrow and use it to celebrate all four of my team making it here. Now I decided to give it to him. “Can you carry all three or do you need help?”
He gave me a look that clearly said he could carry them, so I set the box atop the two cupcake containers.
“Thank you for helping me. I am . . . I am grateful.” I bowed my head slightly. “I am Star.”
“Gaara,” he said, speaking for the first time. I almost let my shock override me at his voice--such a deep, low voice for someone so small. It was a voice that was as soft and smooth as it was deep.
“It was nice to meet you. Again . . . thanks, really. I-if you want anything more, I’ll be glad to help out.” I smiled at him.
He studied me more, as though he’d never seen anything like me before. A small inclination of his head and he turned away, left.
I watched him disappear, feeling the last of my strength ebb away. I felt exhausted. I need to rest and hope that the high content of iron in my blood didn’t kill me before the blood loss did. . . .
I lowered myself in a chair, closing my eyes for what felt like a moment. The next thing I knew, I felt three people in my kitchen. I didn’t open my eyes, didn’t move a muscle. I just listened.
“This is where you got those cupcakes?” a girl asked. Silence. “Why did she give you cupcakes?” I wondered for a minute if my blood had gotten onto any of the cupcakes and had been consumed, or if they disliked my cupcakes or the cake, but I didn’t move.
“Are you sure this is the girl that baked them? She looks nearly dead,” a guy said. More silence. “Wow, she must have gotten into a fight beforehand! Is that what happened? Did you save her?” More silence.
I twitched, I couldn’t help it. The scent of something refreshing had hit me. Someone had moved closer and their blood scent was appetizing. It had a female feel to it and usually I don’t like female blood, but this was different. Most female blood scents were sweet. This blood was just slightly sweet with a quality that was light, warm and strong, like wind.
“She’s alive,” the girl said.
Someone poked me. I opened my eyes to a boy wearing war-paint and a hood that looked like it had ears. There seemed to be something strapped to his back. “Hey, you’re alive.”
I nodded. “Yes, of course I am. Who are you?” I looked around, met light teal eyes. My eyes traveled to my closed door. “What’s going on?”
“When we got here, you were passed out in that chair and your door was wide open, so we just came in,” the boy said.
“Yea. We thought you were dead, but Gaara said that you’re the one who made the cupcakes.”
“Yes, I am.” I straightened up. “Was there anything wrong with the cupcakes?”
The boy with the hood shook his head. “No. I just wanted to make sure he didn’t kill you for the cupcakes.”
I shook my head at him. “No, I’m quite alive.”
“You really gave my little brother cupcakes? And a cake?” the guy asked again, staring between me and Gaara. “Really? You invited him into your house long enough for you to make cupcakes that will still warm when they got to us?”
I nodded.
“You’re brave,” he said, grinning. “We should take her home with us--she could make more cupcakes! They’re delicious, by the way.”
“Gaara even had one . . . he almost never eats anything sweet like that, but they were very good.” The girl smiled. “I’m Temari.”
“I’m Kankuro.”
“I’m Star.”
Kankuro seemed to find that amusing. “Maybe that’s why he didn’t kill her!” he laughing said.
I didn’t reply. Didn’t know how to reply.
“So what happened to you, anyway?” Temari asked, shooting a glare at the guy.
“I was attacked by my grandfather. Your teammate saved my life.”
She and Kankuro turned as one to stare at Gaara. He remained unflinching, unmoving under their stares, still studying me as though he’d never seen anything like me. It made me feel like a specimen in a scientific tank. . . .
“He saved your life? Our Gaara, this one right here?” Kankuro nearly yelped.
I nodded. “Yes.” I was feeling drained. “Actually, if there’s nothing else . . . I need to rest. I’m really drained.”
“Yea, sure. We just wanted to make sure Gaara didn’t kill anyone.”
“Thanks for the cupcakes!”
Gaara gave a small nod to me before turning to lead his team out.
I waited a few minutes before I knew that they were gone, then I crept out. I needed to find blood. Badly. I wondered into the forest, meaning to get to Bloody Rose, but I must’ve blacked out again because the next thing I knew, someone was calling my name. I opened my eyes, staring up into light teal eyes. For a moment, I didn’t recognize those eyes, but once I saw the black rims, I knew who it was. “G-Gaara?”
He said nothing. There was no change in his demeanor that let me know he’d heard me.
“What-what happened?”
“You passed out. Probably from blood loss.”
“Bl-blood . . . I need . . . I need blood. . . .”
“What?”
“I need to drink someone’s blood . . . or I’m going . . . I’m going to die. I need to drink powerful blood . . . I can’t . . . I can’t move anymore.”
“Blood. . . .” He looked up, away from me, and I realized I was propped up on sand. “I’ll be right back,” he said. A second later, he had stood and jumped over me, the sand crumbling beneath me.
I let myself drift for awhile. I was brought back only by something being placed against my mouth--something cold . . . and wet. What felt like a grainy hand, maybe a hand made out of sand, pushed on my chin to open my mouth and something warm, almost hot filled my mouth. I recognized the scent of that girl’s blood, mixed with someone else’s blood. Confusion settled in me, but I swallowed the blood. New energy flooded me and I felt myself heal. I tried to move, but something heavy was holding me down.
“Don’t move, yet. Your body is healing,” Gaara said softly. When I opened my eyes, he was watching one of the stab wounds on me disappear. My shirt had ridden up enough for him to see that wound, but not far enough for me to want to pull it down.
I almost coughed on the blood, but I swallowed it until the cup was empty. I realized the sand was holding the cup there. I licked my lips clean and the cup was gone and teal eyes met mine. “Why?” I asked, curiosity inside me. “Why help me twice?”
He was silent, eyes troubled by the question--or perhaps by his own answer to the question. The sand moved away from me, retreating into the gourd.
I sat up. “Gaara?” I asked, moving my hand to touch him--
By the way he reacted, I expected something bad to happen because his eyes widened and he almost said, “Don’t touch me,” but when my hand softly landed on his arm, his eyes widened more and he looked down to see my hand perched delicately on his arm. His mouth was slightly ajar from shock. He closed it, eyes still wide, and looked up at me. “Y-you touched me.”
I cocked my head to the side, confused, drawing my hand back. “Am I not allowed to? I didn’t mean to-”
He reached forward, cutting my sentence off, and placed his hands on my shoulders, eyes widening more. His eyes came up to meet mine and there was shock, almost fear in them. “You . . . you are no threat to me. None whatsoever.” I almost found insult to that, thinking he was saying I was weaker than he was, but I heard the truth behind those words. He felt not that I couldn’t hurt him, but that I wouldn’t. It seemed to shock him for some reason. His hands, rough, slid down my arms, almost as if he was shocked that he could touch me at all, almost as if he’d never felt skin-to-skin before.
I stared at him, concentrating. I went into his head just far enough to know that he never had experienced skin-to-skin like that before. That nobody had ever touched him. I didn’t go further, but I could feel a gray cloud hanging in his mind, like he had a lot of darkness, a lot of pain inside him. I did the one thing I knew how to do: I looked him in the eye, slowly moved closer and slid my arms around his waist, tentatively hugging him.
He was stiff for a moment and just as I began to draw away, his arms came around me in a crushing embrace. He didn’t seem to realize just how strong he was, but I didn’t care. I didn’t mind. I let him hold onto me because I knew that it eased some kind of grayness in his mind. His breathing was slightly stilted, slightly unsure, like he was about to have a breakdown, but he held himself steady, didn’t break, didn’t move for a long time. When he did move away, his eyes were earnestly searching mine. “Why did you do that?” he asked, voice softer than normal. “Why did you hug me?”
I looked down, away. “I just . . . I know what it’s like to feel so alone. . . .”
His breath caught.
“I know what it’s like to have everyone hate you, to have everyone hurt you.” I looked up at him now. “I know what it’s like to have immense pain inside you and to never be able to let it out.”
He drew back a bit, eyes uncertain. “You . . . know?”
“I know,” I said, sliding my arms around him again. “And I don’t want you to feel alone anymore, Gaara.” I rested my head against his shoulder, leaning into him, letting him know he had control of the hug.
He crushed me to him again, holding onto me for what seemed like hours. When he did pull away, I thought I caught a glimmer in his eyes, a sadness that had been lifted. He reluctantly stood. “My siblings must be wondering where I am.” He looked down at me, offered a hand.
I took it, knowing it meant a lot to him for me to do so, and let him help me to my feet, even placing my hand on his arm to steady myself. “My team is probably going to be meeting soon, too.”
He nodded. “Yes.” His eyes were downcast, as though he was too shy to meet my eyes. There was a blush on his face. “I . . . thank you, Star.”
“For what?”
“For touching me. For not fearing me.” Slowly, his eyes moved up to meet mine. “For letting me know maybe I . . . I’m not so alone.”
I smiled at him. “Thank you for saving my life.”
“You’re welcome.”
“You can say that I’ve repaid you.” I smiled wider.
A tiny, tiny, tiny smile. “No . . . I am in your debt now.”
“How so?”
“I saved your life . . . you’ve saved my soul.”
I almost hugged him again, but I held myself back. “Any time,” I said, eyes smiling at him, but face trying for serious.
He inclined his head slightly. “Any time.” He walked around me, not another word.
I stood there for just a second, then left, walking quickly. It wasn’t long before I realized I was being followed. I stopped, turned and came face-to-face with the Uchiha again.
He was furious. “What were you doing?! Do you even realize how dangerous he is!? He could’ve killed you! He could’ve done anything to you and there was nobody to stop him! Do you need a babysitter to keep you safe all day and night?!” His black, black eyes were roiling in rage. I’d never seen him so mad.
“Uchiha-”
“No, don’t you ‘Uchiha’ me! You never listen when it’s best for you, but this has got to stop! You can’t just go around and fraternize with murderers, with people everyone knows are bad news and expect to come away without a scratch! What happens to this team if you get killed? What happens to your sister? Did you think about that? Did you think at all?!”
“But I-”
“There’s no excuse for that! Do you realize what you put me through when I realized you were with someone so dangerous?! Do you realize what I went through when I went to your house only to find the door broken in and blood all over the place?! What happened?! I want to know now!”
I nodded. “I was attacked-”
“By?”
“My grandfather.”
“Go on.”
“And I was running away, trying to get away from him, when I ran into Gaara. He killed my grandfather and saved my life, then came back to save my life again by giving me blood. If it wasn’t for that murderer, I’d be dead.” I glared at him. “Gaara is not a murderer. He’s just misunderstood.”
“Do you realize what you’re saying?”
“Yes. He saved my life twice. At least be happy for that. If it hadn’t been for him, you wouldn’t be able to bitch at me right now, now would you?”
That shut him up. For a second. “Why didn’t you come to me when you were attacked? Did you think of that?”
Honestly, no . . . I hadn’t. I said as much.
“And why not?”
“All I was thinking about was getting away. You’ve read what was in that notebook, but you don’t know everything that man did to me. I was too scared to fight back, too scared to think or do much of anything.”
“Freezing in battle is a weakness, Star. You don’t tolerate weaknesses any more than I do.”
“Yes, but you don’t know what he did to me. The kind of terror he inspires in me when I think of him.” I hesitated. “The kind of hatred and fear and horror and disgust and shame he inspires in me. I was afraid that if I killed him, questions would be asked and it would get out, what he did to me. What he sold me for. I was just afraid.”
“That is no excuse--what do you mean, what he sold you for?” His eyes narrowed. “While we’re on this subject, what did he do to you?”
I clenched my mouth shut, instantly wanting to kick myself. I shook my head.
“No, don’t you shut me out now. Tell me. I’m your teammate. I need to know your weaknesses so that I can be prepared if one of them is exploited.”
That made sense, but there was no way this particular thing could be exploited. . . .
“Star, what happened?”
I felt trapped. I couldn’t run--I knew he’d catch me. I couldn’t lie--I knew he’d find out. I didn’t want to tell the truth and face his disgust of me. What could I do? I sighed and broke. I told him. “He sold me, let others hurt me.” I looked away, the shame in me building.
“Sold you for?”
“Nothing important.” I looked away, eyes watering.
His hands were suddenly at my shoulders, tight enough I winced. “Tell me.”
“Sex.”
He was frozen for a moment, then his hands dropped away and he lowered his head until his hair covered all but his mouth. “That Gaara killed him, right?” he asked, voice dead, emotionless.
“Yes.”
His fists were clenched. I could smell a spicy scent as his nails tore through his skin to the blood underneath. “I hope it was painful. . . .”
Being crushed probably was. . . . I did not say this out loud. “I just know he’s dead.”
“That’s too bad . . . I’d love to be able to rip him apart myself!” He raised his head and his eyes were different now. It was at this moment that I was forcibly reminded that he was of Uchiha blood, that he had the Sharingan in his blood, that he had it activated. Right now, it was activated and his eyes were burning. He took one step to me, reached out and was crushing me to him the next second. “Why didn’t you ever say anything?” he asked softly.
“Why would I have?”
“I mean, you never told anyone that he was selling you?”
“Back where we were living, it was normal. If I was still living there, I’d have been forced to marry someone at this age.”
His arms tightened around me and for a moment, I couldn’t breathe. This embrace was more constricting than Gaara’s and I had a moment to wonder if Sasuke was stronger than he was or if Gaara had actually been gentler with me than I’d thought. “Dammit,” he breathed, breath caressing my ear. “I never thought I’d be hugging you. . . .”
Neither did I, but, actually, it felt . . . nice. Safe. I relaxed into him, bringing my arms up between his chest and mine and fisting my hands in his shirt, at his shoulders, hanging onto him and leaning my head against his shoulder. The difference in height made it easier to lean into him and for just a short time, I let myself lean on him, I let myself rely on his strength. I let him be my strength. I was crying just slightly as I held onto him. Then, when I felt it had gone on long enough, I pushed at his chest just slightly and he drew back.
His eyes were worried. “Are you okay?”
I nodded. “Yes.” I added timidly, “Thank you . . . Sasuke.”
He smiled slightly. “My name. . . . that’s the first time you’ve ever said my name.”
“Yea.”
“I like it.” His eyes hardened. “Never tell anyone I hugged you.”
I laughed. “You have no need to worry about that!” Then an evil, little smirk came across my face. “Or . . . I could tell every fan girl within radius that you’re a hugger . . . I could let them know that if they come up to you and hold you for a long time, whether you struggle or not, you like it.”
He scowled. “You wouldn’t dare.”
My smirk widened. “I would.”
He smirked. “In that case, I’ll let everyone know that you still sleep with a stuffed animal. Or I could let it out that your notebook is filled with drawings of me. . . .”
I blushed. “Okay, I won’t say anything. And my notebook is filled with drawings of everyone.”
“Not Sakura, Ino or . . . well, anyone else but me, Hinata and Kiba. They’re even all dated.”
I glared at him. “Speaking of my notebook, can I have it back?”
He seemed to think about it. “Not yet. I’m not done with it, yet.”
“How can you not be done with it!?”
He smiled. “Easily. I’m just not ready to give it back. . . .”
I glared at him again. “You are evil.”
“Hm.” He smirked at me, a devious glint in his eyes. “Is that why you like me?”
I blushed. “W-what?! Are you insane?!” I launched at him, meaning to attack him.
He side-stepped, foot-sweeping my feet out from under me and I fell to my hands and knees. He dropped to his knees beside me. “Maybe I am, but your reaction tells me I’m right.”
I blushed darker and cursed at him, which made him laugh, for some odd reason. I attacked him, then, while he was laughing, wrestling in close combat, trying to get at least one hit on him. I almost had him pinned when he stopped playing and really began to try. Seconds later, I was on my stomach with my arms twisted behind my back, him straddling my waist. I cursed at him again. “Damn you!”
“Once more, your reaction tells me I’m correct,” he said in an offhand manner.
I struggled against him. “Damn you! You are so damn arrogant!”
“But right.” He let me up.
I stood quickly, dusting myself off, refusing to look at him.
“Tell me I’m wrong, Star. Look me in my eyes and tell me I’m wrong. Without blushing or looking away.”
Not looking away would be easy. It was the blushing part that I knew I couldn’t do. I blushed at everything. “Look, I blush at everything and you know it. Just because I blush-”
“It wasn’t just the blushing,” he retorted in an almost angry way. “It’s everything. The drawings you’ve drawn, the blushing, the way you attacked me when I said that.”
I glared at him.
“Then there’s that.” He brushed off an invisible speck. “It appears that the drawings were drawn shortly after fights we had, since they’re dated and have captions under them.” He shrugged. “I figure that the reason you draw after the fights is because you have a lot of tension to work out and by the way you draw with an intensity, drawing me seems to help ease that tension. I think that the main difference to the drawings of me and Kiba is that his are lightly done. The ones drawn of me are more heavy, darker, like you’re angry when you draw them.” He seemed thoughtful for a minute. “Or like you were concentrating more.”
I blushed. “Can we please get off this topic?!”
He smirked. “Ah, more concentration, I see.”
The blush darkened. “If you don’t drop this, I’ll go and find Gaara! I’m sure he wouldn’t try to make me blush. . . .”
His eyes darkened. “You wouldn’t.”
“Try me.” I glared at him. In the next second, I was draped over his shoulder and being carried somewhere. “What-what are you doing!?”
“You think I’m going to let you even try to go back to him, you’re totally nuts.”
“Put me down!”
“Not until we’re far enough away from this area that you cannot make that threat again, idle or not.”
I tried to kick him, but he put on arm below my knees and one arm above my knees, which kept my legs nicely immobile. Finding no other options, I growled and crossed my arms. “This is very undignified, I hope you know that!”
“Should’ve thought about that before you threatened to run off with a murderer. . . .”
“He is not a murderer! He’s a sweet boy. You’d know that if you didn’t have your head-”
He froze. “Hm, looks like this is your lucky day.” He set me back down, two minutes before Naruto ran into sight. “Naruto?” he questioned, raising one brow.
“Come with me, Sasuke, hurry! I need your help!”
He glared at him. “What makes you think I’ll go anywhere with you? Loser.”
“Sasuke, please? I really need your help.”
“Is it a ramen bill again?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
He glanced at me, then at Sasuke. “It’s . . . I have . . . I want to talk to you about something important. I need your advice.”
Sasuke sighed. “Fine. Let’s go. This better be over in ten minutes.” He turned to me. “And you better be here when I return.” He stalked off, following Naruto.
I sighed, turned--eyes meeting light teal, angry, black-rimmed eyes. Gaara stepped forward and started toward Sasuke-I grabbed his arm, forcing him to look down at me. “Gaara, what’s wrong?”
“He was trying to keep you away from me.”
“So you heard that last part, did you?”
He nodded.
I smiled. “Come on, Gaara. Let’s give him a taste of his own medicine!” Tightening my grip on his arm, I pulled him with me silently. I looked back to give him a devious smile and amusement seeped into his eyes. “Where should we go?” I felt myself being lifted-I looked down to see sand lifting both me and Gaara into the air.
“I’ll find someplace,” he said casually, as though we weren’t flying.
I hated heights. I gripped his arm with both hands, standing closer to him now.
He looked down at me, raising one brow. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m afraid of heights.”
One eye twitched, a corner of his mouth turned up in wry amusement. “You’re afraid to fly, but you’re not afraid to touch me or be near me.”
I looked up at him. “Why would I fear you?”
The words seemed to make him tense, made his eyes widen in shock and disbelief. “You don’t fear me at all, do you?”
I shook my head. “Should I?”
“Everyone else does.”
I smiled. “Then they don’t know what they’re missing. It’s their loss.”
His eyes widened. “W-what?”
“You’re awesome,” I said, touching his arm, “even I can see that. If they can’t, then that’s their problem.”
A small blush. I wanted to hug him again. “Thank you.”
Then I did hug him, softly, gently. “You’re welcome.” I pulled back, smiling at him. The sand deposited us in a large clearing and I stepped away from him, looking around. I suddenly felt . . . happy. I turned to Gaara, eyes smiling at him and lips trying to be serious.
There was instantly a wary, yet amused look on his face. It was as though he knew I was going to do something.
And I was! I did. I started dancing. First just spinning around in a circle, then getting more complex and finally, I danced a circle around him. In the middle of one circle, I stopped, grabbed his hand and said, “Dance with me.”
He blushed. “I-I don’t . . . I don’t know how.”
I smiled. “I’ll teach you. Put one hand at my waist,” I said, bringing his hand out to the side and twining my fingers with his.
He placed his hand right above my hip. “Here?”
“A little higher.”
His hand found my waist.
“Yea, there.”
He looked a question at me.
I placed the front right half of my body against the front left half of his, as is proper so that nobody will step on anyone’s feet. “Okay, see how we’re positioned? It’s so our legs go between each other’s, so nobody’s feet gets trampled. Plus, it’s the formal, proper way to do it and it makes it easier to spin.”
He nodded, the blush still on his face.
“Okay, I’ll lead first. You just follow my lead, okay? That means, you do the opposite as I do. I’m going to step forward with my right foot; you’ll go back with your left. Got it?”
Again, a nod. He seemed to be staring downwards at his feet.
I laughed softly. “Look up, Gaara. You’ll do fine. Don’t worry.”
When he looked up, he was blushing.
“Ready?” A nod and I started; he followed. I taught him to dance and it wasn’t hard. He was a fast learner. Fast enough that within twenty minutes, he’d taken over as the lead. Apparently he was more a leader than a follower. I could’ve guessed that.
He spun me quickly, taking me off-guard and pushing my thoughts back to him. A small smile greeted me when we were back in position. I think he did it on purpose because he’d noticed my mind had wondered.
I smiled back at him, letting him lead, and we danced. There was no music, none but the sounds of the wind and the animals in the wood, but we danced to it. It was both the silliest thing I’d ever done and the most fun. “So what do you think?” I asked, still smiling.
“I like dancing,” he said softly.
I’d noticed. I think what he enjoyed most of dancing is the physical touching. He seemed to really enjoy that I wasn’t afraid to touch him. I think he enjoyed knowing that there was one person that wasn’t afraid of him. My mind wondered-this time without my consent. I could see someone in my mind’s eye. She was screaming, crying out for help. Her name, I couldn’t remember, but when she looked up at me, her face was so much mine, but different. Light, light blond hair, light blue eyes--I think I’d fainted, because the next thing I knew, Gaara was calling my name in a worried tone and I was pulled into his lap. “W-what happened?”
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
I sat up. “I had a vision,” I whispered. I’d never told anyone I had visions. Why I said this in front of him, I didn’t know, but I suddenly felt frantic. I looked up at Gaara with wide eyes. “She’s in danger,” I whispered again.
“Who is?” he asked, voice concerned, frantic. “Who’s in danger? What happened?”
“My sister.” I closed my eyes, shook my head. I hadn’t brought this up to Kakashi-Sensei like Sasuke had suggested, but now I regretted it. “And I can’t do anything to help. I need to get stronger!” I clenched my fists.
“Star, what’s going on?”
“I-I have visions . . . sometimes of the future and sometimes of the past and sometimes of the present. I don’t know what this was. I don’t know if it was present or future, but I know if I don’t find her, something bad will happen!” I closed my eyes and, in an instant, I had my arms locked around his throat, face against his chest. “I can’t lose her. She’s all I have of my family,” I gasped.
His arms were around me instantly, gently. “It’s okay. We’ll find her.”
I looked up at the ‘we’ll’ part. “W-what?”
“We’ll find her. I’ll send my siblings out to search tonight and after the Chuunin Exams, we’ll have more time to search. We’ll find your sister and we’ll save her.”
“Gaara, I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You didn’t. I decided to do it.” His eyes were serious. “I’ll find your sister and I’ll bring her home. No matter what it takes.”
“How can you be so sure you can do that?”
“Because I’m determined.”
“Gaara. . . .”
“I’ll bring her home, Star.” He put his hand to my cheek, bringing my face up to look at him. “That’s a promise. I’ll bring her home.”
“Why?” I asked, voice soft.
“Because you’re the first person I’ve met that has shown me something different than fear or hatred. You’re not afraid of me, even after you saw me kill someone in front of you. You invited me into your home, not knowing whether or not I would kill you, too. You weren’t afraid I’d hurt you. You just . . . accepted me. Nobody’s ever done that before.” His voice softened. “Now I’m going to do what I can to make sure you’re safe and happy. If that means finding your sister, that’s what I’ll do.”
“Do me a favor, when you find her?”
“What?”
“Don’t save her, yet, come get me first. I want to be there.” My eyes hardened. “I want to kill anyone who’s touched her or hurt her.”
A small smile. “Easily done.”
I smiled at him. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me until I’ve found her.”
I nodded. “If we’re going to find her, that means I need to get stronger.” I pushed away from him and stood. “Care to spar?”
His eyes widened. “I don’t know that’s such a good idea. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I won’t be-”
He shook his head. “No. I won’t take a chance of hurting you.” He stood. “That’s another of my promises. I’ll never hurt you.”
I stared at him, then smiled. “I’m not so easily breakable, but . . . I understand.” I hugged him again. “Thanks.”
“Thanks for understanding.”
I heard my name being called. The stiffening of his body let me know he’d heard, too. I groaned. “Idiot calls.” I smiled at him, hugging him again. “I’ll see you later?”
He nodded. “Yes. I’ll tell my siblings of the search.”
“Thanks, again.”
“You’re welcome.”
I turned, waving over my shoulder, and ran in the direction his voice had come from. It wasn’t long before I found Sasuke, with Hinata and Kiba at his side. “Hey, Kiba, Hinata, what’s up?”
“We were looking for you,” Kiba said. “We were worried because I saw your kitchen. Are you okay?”
I nodded. “Yes. I am fine.”
“You’re lucky Kiba and Hinata found me before I took that kid out,” Sasuke growled.
I stared at him. “What are you talking about?”
“I saw you with him.”
“So? He’s my friend.”
“He’s dangerous.”
“So am I. So are you.”
He growled. “Kiba, Hinata, if you’ll excuse us,” he said, stalking up to me and gripping my arm in a harsh grasp. “We have something to discuss.” Neither one of them even glanced at me as they moved away quickly. I think that they knew he was capable of hurting them if they did. He pulled me along with him, not toward the clearing Gaara and I had been in, but in the opposite direction. He didn’t stop until we hit a different clearing, then he pulled me in front of him. “What were you thinking? I saw you dancing with him. You’re lucky I heard Kiba and Hinata coming closer! If I hadn’t heard them, I would’ve broken up that little farce!”
“He’s my friend. Why do you care so much?”
“He’s dangerous, Star. Can’t you see that?”
I growled. “He is not dangerous! He wouldn’t even spar with me because he was afraid of hurting me!” If I hadn’t been defending Gaara, I don’t think I’d have said what I said next. “Besides, I don’t think you’re worried about me getting hurt. I think you’re just jealous!”
His entire body stiffened and his eyes widened, then narrowed. “What would I have to be jealous about?” His voice was calm, even. It was that voice that let me know I was right.
I felt my breath freeze in my throat. “You are jealous.”
“I am not!” he said angrily.
I felt the urge to hug him. “I don’t know, why would you be jealous?”
“I’m not.”
“You and I don’t even like each other. We’re always fighting. We never get along. In all the time we’ve known each other, have we ever had a meeting during which we weren’t fighting?”
He studied me. “I thought we were getting along better recently.”
I shrugged. “Yea, maybe so, but why would you have any reasons to be jealous? I mean, Gaara and I are friends, just like Kiba and I are friends and Hinata and I are friends and Neji and I are friends. So what reasons would you have to be jealous?”
“You’ve never danced with Kiba or Neji,” he pointed out, voice coolly informative.
“You’re jealous because I danced with him? You don’t even like dancing.”
“First of all, I am not jealous. Second of all, I do like dancing. I just don’t like doing it in front of anyone.”
“If you weren’t jealous of it, you wouldn’t have felt the need to add that you do like dancing.”
He scowled. “I am not jealous.”
“I was hyper, okay? I do things like that when I’m hyper. You’ve never seen me hyper.”
“I’ve seen you playing with Akamaru and Kiba and Hinata.”
“But you’ve never seen me hyper. It happens rarely and only around a few people.” I almost instantly regretted the “few people” comment because his eyes narrowed.
“Gaara just happens to be one of them.”
“I guess. Besides, it meant a lot to him for me to dance with him like that. He really enjoyed it. He doesn’t have anyone that’s willing to touch him like that. He’s never been danced with like that. It was a first for him.”
He scowled. “And you just happened to be his first. Do you even take time to think about the repercussions of your actions?”
“What repercussions could my actions possibly have?” I rolled my eyes.
“Do you realize you’re the first person who has shown him kindness; the first person to touch him; the first to dance with him or hug him. You’re going to mean a lot to that boy now. What if he starts to feel something for you that you can’t reciprocate? What will happen then? He’s unstable. If he starts to like you and you’re trying to just be friends, what will happen when he starts to think that you were fooling him? Or when he thinks that there’s someone you like better? What would happen if he started to think that the person that’s in his way is one of your friends and he tries, and possibly succeeds, killing him?”
“He wouldn’t do that.”
He gave me a look. “You honestly believe that if he started to fall for you and he saw you and Kiba dancing, or you and Neji hugging, that he wouldn’t lose it and kill them? You said he had refused to spar with you because he didn’t want to hurt you. What if he comes upon you and me sparring or Neji training you and thinks we’re trying to hurt you? What do you think he would do?”
I couldn’t answer that. I didn’t know how to. Instead, I tried to change the subject. “Sasuke, he’s not going to fall for me. I’m not falling for material.”
For a moment, he said nothing to that and when he did, it shocked me. “I don’t know about that, Star. Look at it the way I am. A girl goes up to a guy who is known to be ruthless, dangerous, who’s known to be a murderer. Instead of running away from him or calling him a monster, she hugs him, accepts him into her life with no problems and shows him that he doesn’t have to be so ruthless. You don’t think that said guy would ever fall for the girl?”
I shrugged. “Why are you so worried that he’s going to fall for me? It isn’t going to happen.”
“You don’t know that.”
“You don’t know that he will.”
He studied me for a minute. “If he sees even part of what I see in you, then, yes, I know he’ll fall for you.” He was gone the next moment.
I felt stunned for a minute, then I shook my head. “You are jealous,” I said softly.
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Bloody Tears