Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Rot, Another One Bites the Dust	By : LucklessMallory Category: Naruto AU/AR > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1222 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I make no profit from the distribution of this story.

Chapter List
- 7
- 8
- 9
In the hotel’s kitchen, Temari was going through the cupboards stacked with canned food. Dinner each night was different based on who was cooking and what was available, but the general standard was to have at least one big dish or two that everyone could have pieces of. In the beginning they’d actually had chicken and beef stored in the freezer, but there was almost none of that left anymore.
“What are you in the mood for, Gaara?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder at her younger brother. He was on cooking duty with her tonight, since it was their turn.
This was their second attempt at something edible by using pre-cooked ingredients. The last time the Sabaku siblings were given cooking duty, they’d gotten complaints on their choice of food. Temari had simply said, ‘Shut up and eat, or starve.’ Neither she nor Gaara were very good with domestic chores in the first place, much like their father. Kankuro had been most decent at it amongst their family- meaning he didn’t burn meals like they did or tear holes in the laundry.
Gaara had a selection of cans in hand, nearly all of them boasting of some spicy sauce or another. He finally held up canned spicy corned beef, taking a few more cans for everyone’s share at the hotel. He brought them to the table. “We need to find more food.” He said, pulling out a clean wok.
“There were still cans at home when we left. The next time I get a chance to, I’ll make a run back.” He kept his eyes on the task at hand, cracking the cans open with a can opener one after another. The wok simmered on the stove when he poured in the first can. “I’ll bring back our family pictures for you too.”
Temari closed the cupboard and turned around. Her brows furrowed, but she smiled and nodded. “Thank you. I’d like that. Just don’t go alone, and try searching somewhere else if you run into a horde.
“Don’t fill the wok to the brim like last time,” She warned, pulling out a long handled spoon and set it down next to the wok to use for stirring when they needed it. Temari leaned back against the counter and crossed her arms, watching her brother work. “I saw Kiba wearing a shirt that belonged to Kankuro. I think a pair of jeans that Lee wears were his, too. Did you give out any of my clothing?”
“Yes. Tenten and Hinata borrowed some of your shirts when they stayed at our apartment.” Gaara replied, moving the wok back and forth. After a moment, he picked up the spoon and basically mashed the meat against the wok.
There was something else on his mind as he cooked, and it was evident in the far-off look in his eyes while he mechanically heated up the corned beef. “Do we still have enough rice for everyone?”
Temari nodded. “Yes. I just looked.” She wasn’t oblivious to her brother’s mood, and practiced nonchalance as she regarded him from the corner of her eye. She picked up a can and examined the back of it as she spoke. “What’s on your mind? You’ve been distracted today. It’s not like you.”
Gaara finally turned his gaze towards her, exhaling through his nose before flipping over a large chunk of the corned beef. It wasn’t in his nature to beat around the bush, and Temari would know if he tried to deflect the question. “Neji’s group left just before lunch.” He said, “Baki told me they can take the whole day if something goes wrong and it’s already mid-afternoon.”
Temari nodded. “It isn’t a short job to do a run to the power plant, or easy. It usually takes a few hours. We’ve been having trouble with raiders lately, too. They’ve been hostile.”
Temari looked down at her brother’s hands as he flipped and mixed the food, probably more than what was really necessary. She could see through Gaara’s mask better than most anyone, even their father. The only one who’d been able to read Gaara better was Kankuro. “You’re concerned about them? Lee hasn’t been out to the power plant before.”
Gaara frowned slightly, finding the corned beef he was cooking a sad red-brown gruel after his stirring. He switched off the heat and made room for Temari to make some broth out of the bone defrosting in the sink. He wiped his hands on a paper towel. “The group is too small as it is. If Neji was the only one guarding the truck and the repairmen, their security isn’t that good in the first place. You should have posted more people to protect them.”
“We don’t have more people,” Temari said. She pulled out a tall pot and filled it halfway with water, before setting it on the electric burner. She set the heat to let it boil. “There aren’t as many able bodied people here as we need, and almost everyone who isn’t at the power plant is doing other jobs.” Temari leveled her brother with a look. “You know that.”
Temari had a way of catching him when he let emotions overtake logic. Gaara rarely allowed that to happen, but his siblings always knew when he did. The knot between his brows deepened as he crossed his arms and glared at the empty cans on the table. He exhaled sharply and let his thoughts drift to the past.
“When I was at home, I waited for you and Kankuro to arrive.” He intoned dully. “We stayed there for almost a week. Why didn’t you come home?”
Temari set the heat under the pot higher and put the lid on, hoping it would boil faster. She glanced at her brother, then fetched the leg bone in the sink. “I didn’t think you would be there, Gaara. When the outbreak hit and everyone was dying, Kankuro and I found each other right away. We were on our way to find you when Kankuro was bitten. Baki and I couldn’t fight our way to your floor, and we couldn’t see any way that you might have escaped from that high up without getting infected. I thought you were dead.”
Temari lifted the lid of the pot, letting a rush of steam rise quickly before she dropped the bone inside and put the lid back on. She sighed. “I thought about going to the apartment, just in case. But by then we were at the hotel, and there were too many people who needed help here. I thought... I was also afraid that I really would find the apartment empty.”
It was hard to swallow down Kankuro’s death even after he’d accepted his brother was dead. He hadn’t been there, hadn’t been able to fight for his family, hadn’t had the chance to even see Kankuro’s body so he wouldn’t sometimes wake up wondering where his brother was. “...I took the stairs down instead of going up to find you. I assumed you’d be home, so I didn’t look back.” He bit the inside flesh of his lower lip, then looked up with resolution on his face. “I won’t make the same mistake. Did you hear anything from father before the outbreak?“
“No. I never heard anything from father, or any of the people he worked with, either.”
Temari was facing the pot, but she was watching her brother’s expression from the corner of her eye the whole time. She could still remember when he was just a little kid lugging around his over-sized teddy bear, and she would tease him by calling him a ‘creepy redhead,’ or other cruel childish names. His lower lip would protrude and his brows would furrow in confusion then, just like when he was trying to understand why the other children wouldn’t play with him. He’d had a similar look on his face just now, until the resolve of an adult returned.
Turning away from the stove, Temari wrapped her arms around her brother in a tight hug. “Don’t do anything stupid. Even if it might seem like a mistake later, I just want you to stay alive with me.”
Gaara’s eyes widened with the sudden show of affection, but he brought his hands up to rest on her forearms. He observed, with a sense of detachment, that he was more used to Lee’s hugs than he was to his own sister’s. “...I’ll let you know before I do anything stupid.” He compromised, though the look on his face softened with this turn of events.
They’d finished preparing the meal for everyone and were putting away the dirty cans and utensils they’d used, when Udon burst into the kitchen, the teen sniffling but calling out urgently, “Lee’s hurt! Moegi’s tending to him, but he’s lost a lot of blood-”
Udon yelped when Gaara suddenly dropped what he was holding and strode out of the kitchen in a rush. By the time he’d exited the dining area, he’d broken into a run towards the front lobby.

“Mmghn-” Lee grit his teeth and forced himself to breathe through the pain. Moegi had cut through his jacket and sweater to reach the wound in his arm without making it worse. She was examining it now, her face pale and her hands a tad shaky as she worked.
“Sorry,” she bit out, wincing at the sounds Lee was making. She grabbed the gauze from the first aide kit and began quickly wrapping it around Lee’s wound to hold back the bleeding until she could get everything ready for stitches.
Lee clenched his free hand against his leg, trying to stop himself from moving as the added pressure made it hurt worse. His skin was even paler than Moegi’s from blood loss, and his eyes were slightly unfocused. “It is okay,” he said through his teeth, trying to sound convincing despite everything as he shook his head slowly. “You are doing a good job.”
Moegi pressed against the wound, wincing at the tightness in Lee’s voice as Matsuri laid down medical equipment beside him. The long conference table was the closest surface they could find that was also far away from the doors, with Lee’s blood attracting walkers to the hotel. “Please keep this tight.” She handed over the task to the other girl and briskly washed her hands in the bowl of alcohol, just as an argument rose outside of the office door.
Both girls looked up in surprise when the office door was flung against the wall, Neji pressed up against the glass window of the door by a glaring redhead. “I said get out of my way.” He hissed, letting go of the other man’s collar and turning his heel around- only to stop where he was and openly stare at Lee’s bloody arm with wide eyes. “Are you bitten?” The words shot out of his mouth, stiff and cold.
Lee shook his head slowly, feeling dizzy. He blinked at Gaara and his breath shuddered. “It is a bullet wound. I am not infected.”
“It is getting hard to sit up straight,” he murmured to the girls. Lee winced as he spotted the needle in Moegi’s fingers as she sanitized in with the alcohol. Lee had had stitches before, but he never enjoyed it.
“It’s the blood loss,” Moegi explained, looking up at him quickly. “It’s making you weak.” She turned and called to the door over her shoulder. “Can someone help prop him up, please?”
Gaara forced his legs to move as he made his way to Lee’s side, prying the man’s strong fingers off his leg and hooking Lee’s arm around his shoulder. “Hold my shoulder.” He murmured quickly. He slid an arm around Lee’s waist to help keep him up while Moegi nodded at Matsuri. The older girl began to unwind the bandages, spraying the area with contact lens solution. They were severely lacking in medical supplies, and though Lee looked like he needed a saline drip, this was the best they could do.
“Did you get the bullet out?” Gaara snapped, earning him a similarly curt, “The bullet went clean through,” from Moegi, who looked harassed as she dabbed at the bloody skin.
“I’m going to start.” She said then slid the needle into Lee’s skin, holding both sides of the open wound as Sakura had taught her.
Lee gripped Gaara’s shoulder and clung firmly, forcing the arm that Moegi handled to relax. It would only make things worse if he tensed up. He sucked in a breath as he felt the needle pierce his skin and turned his face toward Gaara to stop himself from watching and flinching.
“It has been a while since I have been hurt this badly,” he choked out. His fingers tightened on Gaara’s shoulder. “I have been injured plenty of times, but I always got painkillers quickly.”
Gaara’s face was tightly controlled as he bore the hard clamp of Lee’s hand, his eyes the only thing betraying the concern he felt. The table dug against his side with his body acting as Lee’s support, but it was nothing compared to what his friend was going through. “You shouldn’t have been hurt at all.” He said, using his free hand to slide Lee’s bangs out of his eyes, his palm acting as support for Lee’s forehead and also keeping him facing Gaara instead of the needle moving in and out of his skin.
Matsuri added another dose of saline as Moegi worked carefully, sweat forming on her brow. Lips pulling into a tight line, Neji stepped out of the office and closed the door behind him, fully aware that Lee had gotten hurt on his watch.
“When was the last time you got this hurt?” Gaara asked, trying to keep the conversation going as a distraction.
“Ngh- It- It was my leg,” Lee grit out. His head was starting to hurt, and he vaguely realized he was probably dehydrated. “I was visiting my uncle, and I got hit by a car. It w-was a student driver. It was only a hairline fracture, but I needed crutches for a while.”
“Almost done,” Moegi said shortly without hesitating with the needle.
Lee leaned his forehead against Gaara’s hand and slid his eyes closed. “I- I got some of the scars on my arms from landing on the pavement, when that happened.”
“...You recovered from it, and got stronger.” Gaara said, unable to imagine how someone with such a strong body could have gone through so many injuries. He’d only seen the scars on Lee’s arm when the man did his bandages at night, and heard about the network of knotted skin across his body. Lowering his voice, he spoke close to Lee’s ear, trying to keep the other man conscious despite the pain. “Tell me about your uncle.”
“We need to sanitize the wound before I close it.” Moegi instructed to Matsuri, looking grim as the girl nodded and reached for the bottle of alcohol. “Get me a fresh roll of bandages too.”
“Uncle Gai is amazing,” Lee said, trying to twitch his lips up once before wincing again, as if it hurt to smile. “He took me in when I had nowhere else to go, even though he was not married and did not have his own kids. I modeled my haircut after his.”
Lee stopped talking abruptly as more stinging alcohol was applied to his wound, making him curl his toes in his shoes to stop himself from tensing his wounded arm. His breath was rough, but he was holding himself together. Having Gaara there to help support him was helping, too. He forced his fingers to stop digging into the other man’s shoulder and blinked blearily. “I have never lost this much blood before. It is making me dizzy. G- Gaara,” Lee looked up, his thick brows furrowed and his voice quiet. “If I had been bit, were you going to kill me?”
Gaara’s throat felt dry, and he had to swallow a few times to answer Lee’s question and the look in his eyes. As Moegi finished sewing the last strands of thread through Lee’s arm, Gaara found his voice. “...I would wait until the last possible second.” He replied, looking into the pained unfocused pupils of the other man’s eyes and finding that he’d lied. He would have killed him the minute he turned.
Once the thread was cut, Matsuri applied a liberal amount of Betadine from the hotel’s first aid kit before wrapping up Lee’s arm with the roll of gauze. “Don’t move your arm for the next two days. I don’t know how well the stitches are going to hold.” Moegi told him with a worried frown on her face but the color returning to her skin.
“Okay. Thank you,” he replied. He looked at Moegi and forced a smile, though it was obviously tense. “Do you think you can fashion a sling for me? I will keep my arm out of the way more easily that way.”
“Already on it,” she said, nodding. “I was going to use what’s left of your shirt and jacket.”
Lee kept his arm around Gaara while Moegi finished cutting the fabric of Lee’s torso. She threw away the bloody sleeves in favor for the dry parts, and gently tied it the way Sakura had instructed her, around Lee’s neck and elbow.
“I already feel better,” he lied, still forcing a smile, though he was trying his best to make it seem genuine. It did feel good not to be losing blood anymore, but his wound was aching, and so was his head. Matsuri found a bottle of water nearby, and unscrewed the cap for Lee, who finally let go of Gaara and drank gratefully, though his stomach was miserable and churning. He set down the bottle and started to slide his legs off the side of the desk. “All better! Now I will just walk up to my room, or maybe the restaurant first.”
“Don’t lie. You’re not better at all,” Gaara said, taking the Betadine and extra gauze wraps Matsuri handed over. “I’m taking you to your room and bring up food later.’
“I think you should lie down for a bit, Lee.” Moegi chided gently and turned to Gaara. “Make sure his wounds are cleaned every hour today, and change his bandages before bed. Miss Sakura said to always play it safe.”
Gaara glanced at Lee silently and found that his pulse was racing from the scare.
Every other time Lee had been injured in his life, he’d tried to brush it off and say he felt great no matter what, because it always eased his uncle’s worries. He’d kept that habit over the years since he’d moved out, but for once he couldn’t quite find the energy to protest all the concern he was getting. His body hurt too much, and his head wasn’t the clearest at the moment.
“Yosh,” he said, nodding at Moegi’s instructions. That made him dizzier instantly, causing him to sway where he sat. He looked at Gaara blearily. “Thank you. I am sorry about this.”
“Don’t talk.” Gaara replied, exhaling through his nose and offering his shoulder again for Lee to lean on. With both girls cleaning up the blood on the table and the medical instruments, he said in a quieter tone, “Take me with you next time.”
The office door creaked open with Neji peering in with a worried frown. It eased up when he saw Lee’s patched up arm. “Temari is serving food in the lounge. I’ll bring up your share, and Gaara’s.” He glanced at the redhead with resignation. As much as he disapproved of Gaara’s point of view, his actions against Tenten, and his continued involvement with Hinata, he was Lee’s friend and seemed to care for Lee’s well-being at least. And there was that suspicious matter of intimacy between the two men. “The hotel has a wheelchair should you need help walking.”
Gaara nodded at Neji in thanks, but left the matter of the wheelchair for Lee to decide. He glanced down at Lee’s clothes and felt a sick feeling in his gut at the blood drenching the fabric.
“Thank you, but I can at least walk on my own. My legs are not injured after, all,” Lee replied, turning his smile toward Neji. Leaning against Gaara’s shoulder for balance, Lee slid off the desk to his feet. He tested his weight on his legs briefly, then nodded and gave a triumphant thumbs up on his good side.
Neji watched him skeptically, but nodded. “Okay. Take it easy. I’ll bring food up to your room in a few minutes.” He stepped back and held the door open.
Lee kept a hand on Gaara’s shoulder, but kept his feet moving without complaint. Lee was worried that he would be peppered with questions from people he passed between the lobby and his room, but it seemed everyone was already in the lounge for dinner. He had to stop and catch his breath when they reached the stairs, and again half way up and at the top, but he didn’t complain or lean on Gaara more than the hand on his shoulder.
“Maybe I will lay down, just until we need to change the bandages,” he murmured as he pulled the key out of his pocket. His face was still pale and he was looking more haggard than ever. Several hairs of his bowl cut were lifted at odd angles, for once not in their immaculate state of shininess.
Gaara hadn’t spoken on the way up, but he took the key from Lee’s hand and opened the door for them, briefly noting what a waste of electricity it was to keep up the electronic locks in the rooms. He helped Lee inside and got him into bed, throwing the red and gold embellished comforter aside. “I’ll need to cut your clothes off. You’ll get blood on the covers.” He said, filling a cup from the thermos on top of their dresser. He’d have to ask Moegi if they had vitamins in stock too. He had little knowledge about supplements, but was sure that Lee needed to take iron.
As he handed the cup to Lee and wiped his hands on the black chef apron he still wore around his hips, the hard look on his face crumbled with a deep breath. He pulled a chair next to the bed. “Where did you put the pocketknife?”
“Oh,” Lee glanced down and reached into the pouch he always carried at his hip. He shuddered faintly as his hand brushed the handgun that had killed Tenten, as he grabbed the pocket knife. He hated carrying it with him now, but he knew he’d be in plenty of situations where he’d need it. He handed the pocket knife to Gaara and unbuckled his belt, pulling that off and tossing it aside with his pouch.
“Thank you,” Lee said, sighing and rubbing his face, suddenly exhausted. He looked down at himself, covered in blood and dirty, tattered clothes, skin pale and muscles weak. He looked half as bad as his body felt. “I am sorry to make you help me so much. I should have been more careful, like you asked me to be. I do not know what I would do without you.”
“...You’d have others to help you. Like Neji.” Gaara replied, taking the pocketknife and beginning to cut off the rest of Lee’s shirt and jacket sleeve. He was careful not to touch the wounded part of his arm as he tore off the sleeve and began ripping the seam at the shoulder. Lee had other clothes from the mall to wear later on.
Once he’d gotten half of the clothes ripped of Lee, he slipped the rest past the other man’s body and threw the soiled fabrics on the floor. “Lie down.” Against the backdrop of Lee’s scarred body and his scruffy look, his arm made him look like he was returning from a long, bloody war. Frowning, Gaara reached up and smoothed down the strands sticking up from Lee’s bowlcut. Somehow, his ruffled hair made his condition look worse and all the more real. “I’ll need to take your pants off.”
Lee laid his head on the pillow and sighed with some relief as he relaxed. He shivered, chilled without any clothes left on his upper body. He reached down and undid the button and zipper on his pants one handed. He wasn’t self conscious about having Gaara help him undress. They’d been sleeping the same bed and rooming together for long enough that any hang ups he’d had about getting this close to another guy had long disappeared, and hadn’t been very strong to begin with.
“Thank you,” Lee repeated automatically. He shifted to lift his hips, so Gaara could slide his jeans off more easily. The waistline of his boxer briefs were just visible. “After that, can you help undo the bandages on my good arm? I do not think I will be needing them, and we can wash and reuse them for my injury.”
Gaara nodded then helped Lee get his jeans off. His attraction for the other man had him pressing his lips tight as he pulled his pants down, tugging off Lee’s shoes as well. He left his socks on as he pulled the comforter over his friend. The blood stain on his pants grounded him firmly and kept his mind from turning to other things as he covered Lee’s body. Gaara never had to exercise bedside manners before, and the tight scowl on his face wouldn’t have suited any nurse.
There was a knock on the door just as Gaara began unwrapping the bandages on Lee’s good arm. Leaving Lee’s side, he ushered in Neji carrying a large service tray with two helpings of soup and corned beef on rice. The two men exchanged glances as Neji entered the room and set the tray on top of the minibar counter.
“How are you feeling? Would you like to move to the first floor? I don’t think you should go up and down the stairs while you’re recovering.” Neji said.
Lee was already half asleep when Neji came inside, but he blinked his eyes open now and struggled to sit up. He shook his head and smiled at his friend. “No, I am alright, thank you. My clothes and things are here, and the stairs are good exercise for me until I can really start my training again. I am sure I will feel fine again once my body pumps some new blood.”
Lee reached across his body and put a hand over the wound on his arm, not gripping or applying pressure, but just feeling where it laid on his bicep. It hurt. But he knew there was nothing they could do about that really, so he continued to smile. “Thank you for getting me back here so quickly, Neji. I am sorry that your truck took damage when we hit some zombies on the way, but I think that I would not have been okay if I had lost anymore blood. I think you saved my life.”
“I’m sorry you got shot. I shouldn’t have allowed them to get so close.” Neji’s forehead was slightly wrinkled with the worry on his face. The normally reserved man sighed. “But I wanted to thank you for coming with me. We might have run into more trouble if you hadn’t been there to help.”
Gaara had been silent during their exchange, but he took his seat beside Lee’s bed now with a bowl of soup in hand and one of the paper plates moved to the side table. He stared at Neji, making a point of holding up the soup bowl and a spoon.
Lee glanced at Gaara briefly, then turned back to Neji. “I am glad I could help. Once my arm has healed enough, I will work with you on making trips to the power plant safer from now on.”
“Just focus on healing first.” Neji instructed. His brows was still furrowed and his demeanor uneasy, but he turned to the door. “I will check on you again later, and bring you something more to eat. Try to rest.” He stepped out the door and pulled it closed behind him.
Realizing that Gaara was still holding up a bowl and spoon, Lee reached sheepishly for his share. He set his soup on his lap and took his spoon next. “I wish Neji would not feel guilty,” he said. “It is not his fault that this happened.” Lee dipped his spoon in the bowl, but his hand was shaking enough to spill most of it when he tried bringing it to his mouth.
“His guilt will make him more cautious next time.” Gaara replied, rubbing at his eyes when Lee took the bowl from him. When he saw Lee’s hand shaking though, he placed a hand over it. “You’re going to spill all of that.” He said by way of explanation as he took the spoon again. Dipping it into the bowl, he brought the soup to Lee’s mouth with his complete attention focused on the liquid. He hated seeing his friend this weak. If helping him eat would make him recover faster, then he was going to make sure Lee drank it until the last drop.
Lee hesitated, but one glance at Gaara’s determined expression kept his mouth shut as he leaned forward and swallowed around the spoon. It was embarrassing to say the least, that he needed so much help. It would be absolutely humiliating if anyone else saw him like this, but Lee knew that Gaara wasn’t going to judge. He wasn’t like that.
“Things could have been much worse,” Lee murmured, half to himself and half to Gaara. “He shot my left arm. If he had aimed just a few inches over, he would have hit my heart. And the bullet went clean through, so we did not have to dig it out, and it did not touch the bone.” Lee accepted another bite, looking away as he swallowed. “I still have trouble believing that someone could shoot at us during a time like this. People should be banding together, not hurting each other.”
Gaara brought up another spoonful and waited for Lee to look his way again. “A crisis can bring out the worst in people.” Lee’s close call made his stomach drop and he found his other hand gripping the edge of the comforter tightly. It was too late to distance himself from the other man. He hadn’t wanted to feel this aching, hammering panic for anyone other than his family, but Lee had somehow wormed past his defenses and made him care so much.
“Finish your food. You need to sleep.” He said quietly, holding up the spoonful.
Lee did as he was told, accepting bite after bite until his soup was gone. He had a harder time with the corn-beef and rice however, and could only eat a couple bites before his stomach churned sickly in warning. Lee drank all the water that Gaara brought him, and laid back down on the bed with a tired sigh. His body felt drained from the top of his head to his toes.
Before Gaara could leave the bedside, Lee grabbed his wrist and turned his head on the pillow to look at the redhead. “Really Gaara, thank you for all this. Neji would have probably helped me, too, but to be honest I think I feel closer to you after all we have been through. I probably would not have let him feed me.” Lee smirked tiredly at that, but continued. “I think you are my very best friend.”
When Gaara found the presence of mind to breathe again, he swallowed and inhaled deeply. He was sure that Lee could feel his quickening pulse from his wrist, even when his face betrayed nothing. “...I’ll be here when you wake up.” He said, unable to think of a suitable response to that. ‘Best friends’ echoed hollow and false.
Leaning closer, he rubbed his knuckle against the side of Lee’s mouth where he’d missed a bit of rice, before taking everything from the bed to soak in the bathroom sink. The eyes reflected on the bathroom mirror were wide and cornered.

In the hotel recreation room that Gaara and Lee often used for sparring, Hinata was working with Gaara on wielding her umbrella. He’d already taught her the basics, but she found that working with her friend as a guide helped her realized quicker when she was making mistakes.
Just when she felt like she was getting a stance correct, the doors to the room banged open sharply and Kiba stormed in, his expression severely agitated as he approached the two.
“Gaara! What are you doing to Hinata?” he demanded.
Looking up at Kiba’s entrance, Gaara’s good mood plummeted at the man’s accusation. He hadn’t cared before, but Kiba’s continuous snide remarks and suspicious looks were starting to tire him out, especially when Lee’s recovery was taking its toll on his mind and body. “I’m teaching her.” He replied, stepping to the side.
Kiba’s eyes narrowed when it seemed like Gaara had just stepped away from Hinata, or maybe he’d had his arms around her before he arrived. He hurried over to Hinata’s side and took hold of her arm. “Why can’t you fucking leave her alone? She’s doing fine without learning how to be a murderer like you.”
“Kiba, just STOP already!” Hinata cried, tugging her arm back. “G-Gaara isn’t doing a-anything to me! W-Why are you s-so angry with him?”
“You don’t need to learn from him. I can teach you anything you want, okay? We’re supposed to stick together, aren’t we?” Kiba’s voice had risen even when his tone was pleading, looking at Hinata as if he was about to lose her. “He’s the one who got Shino killed!”
Gaara had had enough. “I didn’t see you protect him either.” He snapped, jabbing the metal tip of his own umbrella on the ceramic floor. The marks around his eyes were darker from lack of sleep and stress, and the image lent him a frightening visage.
“Bastard,” Kiba snarled, whirling around on Gaara and glaring hot enough to melt steel. “How fucking dare you, after all the shit you’ve put us through! You’re nothing but a selfish ass and a murderer!” He tried to take Hinata’s arm again and leaned toward the door. “Please Hinata, let’s just get away from him.”
“Kiba!” Hinata shoved Kiba’s grip away, her expression hurt. Her eyes were welling up and her stutter was getting worse. “I c-can make m-my own decisions an-and I w-won’t let you insult m-my friend l-like that!”
“Hinata, it’s not just me. Neji doesn’t want you around him either,” Kiba pleaded, his expression desperate as he switched tactics. “He’s just trying to split us up so that he can have you to himself. I’m not the bad guy here!”
“Y-You’re acting like one!” Hinata shook her head fiercely and held the umbrella between them. This had gone on for too long! “I-I c-can’t believe you’re d-doing this. Y-You and N-Neji are b-being s-selfish. G-Gaara’s just h-helping me, b-because y-you never b-believed in m-me.” She backed away, hurt and frustration showing on her face. She hated how she stuttered during these moments, and it added to her disappointment over her friend. “I-I don’t w-want to t-talk to you right now.”
Turning to Gaara, she uttered a quick apology before hurrying out of the room with her face hot from anger and embarrassment.
“Hinata...! Hinata!” Kiba called after her, about to follow after the girl before Gaara stepped in his way.
“She said she didn’t want to talk to you.” Gaara’s eyes were narrowed, his lips pulled down in a scowl.
“That’s none of your goddamn business,” Kiba snapped, his eyes narrow and his fingers curled into furious fists. He looked over Gaara’s shoulder, but Hinata was already long gone. Something burned in his chest when he remembered the way she’d just been looking at him. He turned his anger on Gaara, the cause of this whole mess. “I’ve seen bastards like you every fucking day I’ve been with Hinata, and we’ve been together since we were kids! You’re just like the rest of the assholes who only want her for her money or her body!”
Kiba shoved at Gaara’s shoulder and snarled in his face. “She’s too fucking good for you! If I find out that you’ve laid a single creepy little hand on her, you won’t be the resident murderer anymore, I will!”
Gaara’s temper flared when Kiba shoved him, and he grabbed hold of the man’s hand the way Lee would during their sparring matches, then pivoted to the side until he could snap an arm around Kiba’s neck, choking the other man. “Don’t call me that.” He hissed, his green eyes mere slits. “Can’t you stop and think for a moment that you’re driving her away?”
The hold on Kiba’s neck loosened when the other man kicked back at his knees, and he had to let go to avoid one of the man’s blows. “I don’t like her that way!”
“Bullshit!” Kiba swung around, his face red as he swung a fist at Gaara’s face, narrowly missing and just clipping his shoulder instead. He swung again, low at his stomach. “You’re all over her! You just want in her pants, since you fucking killed Tenten and Hinata is the only other woman besides your sister that can fucking stand you!”
The blow hit against Gaara’s sternum with surprising force, and the redhead gasped out in pain. Whatever anger had been on his face was now accompanied by a haunted, pained look. He rammed his knee against Kiba’s thigh in retaliation. “Tenten was important to me.” He ground out with a tight, low voice, his sides spasming as he tried to catch his breath back. He barely had a second to spare before he was blocking another of Kiba’s blows, his teeth grit in restraint. “Hinata is too.”
His eyes met Kiba’s furious ones, the look on the redhead’s face scrunching at his accusations. “If I could have saved Tenten, I would have done everything. You weren’t there. She was already turning when I shot her.”
Kiba saw the pain in Gaara’s eyes and it made his blood boil more. The valve on all the pent up anger and tension that had been building around his jealousy over Hinata had broken off, and he didn’t even want to hold himself back as it poured out through his fists. He kicked hard, bringing his knee up at any part of the redhead he could reach. He grabbed Gaara, digging his fingertips into the man’s shoulder and swung at his face again, this time connecting with a satisfying thud against his cheekbone.
“You’re a fucking cold hearted bastard! You treat your own friends like they’re disposable, just like you did Shino! I won’t let you hurt Hinata, too! You can’t have her!”
Red took over Gaara’s vision at the sharp pain exploding on his face and the disorientation he felt as he staggered back. His eyes grew shadowed, teeth bared as he braced himself then took a running start towards Kiba until he’d rammed his whole body against him, sending both men to the ground. All that sparring with Lee had brought up Gaara’s confidence in fighting hand-to-hand, with the negative effect of encouraging dirty fighting when he couldn’t beat Lee with regular moves.
“You...don’t...know...me!” Each word was punctuated by a punch or an elbow jab at Kiba, until he grabbed both sides of Kiba’s head and head butted him. He huffed, dizzy and aching as he spat out, “You can have Hinata! I just want to be with Lee!”
Kiba had his arms up, trying to ward off each of Gaara’s blows and mostly failing. When he lowered his arms and looked up at Gaara with a stunned expression, his forehead was bloody above his eyebrow where Gaara had head butted him. His eyes were wide and his breath was painful and thin.
“What... the fuck? You’re fucking gay?” Kiba shoved Gaara off of him, tossing him and rolling away quickly so he wouldn’t get hit again. He laid on his stomach, still panting with his head ducked as his body ached like a huge, pulsing bruise. He turned his head and snarled at the other man. “Why the fuck didn’t you say so before?!”
Body aching, Gaara allowed himself to be pushed off but went with the rolling fall as Lee had taught him. Pushing himself up on his elbows, he growled back at Kiba, “You never asked. Why would I tell you that when I didn’t-” He pressed the heel of his palm against his forehead, shutting his eyes with a sharp inhale as his skull throbbed. “...I didn’t want this. The dead are coming back to life and I can’t feel this way.” His voice had trailed off into a rushed whisper. There was a strange twist to his lips, and his hairless brows were knotted tightly.
Shooting the other man a glare, he got to his feet despite the ache in his stomach. “Stop interrupting me and Hinata. Your jealousy is just pushing her away.” He said, struggling to keep his voice steady and deadpanned. “The best way to make sure she’s safe is to teach her how to survive.”
Kiba glared from beneath his bloody brow and pushed himself to his feet. “Don’t tell me what to do,” he snapped, but his voice wasn’t as malicious as it had been before. He turned on his heel and started toward the door, limping from one of Gaara’s blows on his leg. He glowered at the edge the room with a glance over his shoulder at Gaara, then left without another word.
With a snort, Gaara collected the discarded umbrella and leaned against it as he got his breath back. Only when he’d made his way to the door as well, did he realize he’d ended up giving Kiba the upperhand after all.
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Rot, Another One Bites the Dust