A/N - Broken into 2 chapters. I have no clue where the preview i mentioned before will be. (probably next, next chapter) Took longer to write because internet is down. I'm adding music to my writing. There will be links for music that I listend to when writing this or would go well when reading this.
As your reading, you'll see (-#-), and that's the song i'll suggest at that point.
He says/She says - "I like my women like I like my coffee...in a plastic cup...with a spoon in them!" - Eddie Izzard from Dressed to Kill
Disclaimer - I only have the plot line. Take that from me and you'll wake up with a fork in your jugular.
http://nexusz.haxor.hu/zene/Tokyo20Jihen20-20Adult/Tokyo20Jihen20-200120-20Himitsu.mp3 (-1-)
http://nexusz.haxor.hu/zene/Tokyo20Jihen20-20Killer20Tune20(MPEG2).mpg (-2-)
Chapter 8 - You are my sweetest downfall - I loved you first
"If you think," Gaara rose up, towering over her, "That you can leave me," He walked closer to her, "You're wrong." His eyes held no emotion anymore, as if his entire temper tantrum didn't even happen. "From now on, I'll be monitoring your every move."
Sakura's mouth opened in aghast. 'I'm not some stupid child!' She shouted in her mind, jerking her hand out of his. 'I'm not useless either!!'
"I know what your thinking, and you are." He stated simply. Sakura stared at him in disbelief. "You will go to my room now." Sakura's face twitched in anger, but did as she was told because she wanted to escape from this freak.
She dashed upstairs, barely noticing how lovely the dark floor was. (They had recently ripped off all the carpets and added dark smooth flat rocks to the ground) She ran into the room, furious. She stared out the window, seeing the sunrise. Calming down almost entirely, she moved closer to the hole in the wall, chakra tingling down her spine.
'When was the last time I saw you?' She questioned sadly. Looking down at the city of Sunagakure, she watched as stores opened, and people were placing out produce that was to be sold today. Everything was made out of sand, the roads, the buildings, the houses, everything. She scanned the city, finding the route she was going to take to leave this city. She stood there, retracing the roads she was going to take until she couldn't see any farther. Why didn't she just leave then? She could fit her small frame through the hole in the wall, and she had her vision back. Even if she didn't have her chakra system under control, she could still make it to Konoha in under 5 days. And she would be sure to find a water source somewhere along the way.
'Not yet…' She concluded. 'I can't leave yet.'
Sakura stood infront of the circular hole in the wall, tracing her fingers over the walls absentmindly. She just stood there, not knowing what to do with herself right now.
"Sakura." A quiet voice floated into the room. Sakura turned her head to the entrance of the room, where Temari now stood. "I need to talk to you." Her voice was formal, but not unpleasant. Sakura left her hand out gestering towards the bed on the opposite end of the room. Somewhere downstairs, they could hear glass shattering, Sakura's hand trembled a little. The two women sat side by side on the edge of the bed. Sakura waited patiently for Temari to start.
"You miss your home don't you." Temari stated, her usual haughty voice was gone. Sakura nodded slowly waiting for Temari to go on. "He knows you miss home. But he doesn't know what to do about it." Her blonde hair was slightly down as she stared at the floor, her voice quiet but there was strength and understanding behind her words. An understanding that she had found out long ago. "He wants to keep you here for your own good Sakura." The blonde pigtailed woman gave a smile that was too perfect, like she had practiced it.
'Bullshit.' Sakura thought venomously. 'I'm here because of something else.'
Of course, Sakura couldn't say that aloud so she merely nodded her head and gave Temari the best convinced smile she could muster. Temari smiled back weakly, her green eyes standing out with some unconcious pride. She turned away and the two sat on the bed for a while until Temari said, "You may not believe me, but you are more important to him than you can imagine." Sakura tried to read her face, but Temari stood up too fast, and left with a little sad smile on her lips before going downstairs. Sakura sat there watching where Temari was sitting on the bed, her mind blank.
(-1-)'And NOW,' Sakura concluded snapping out of her little daze, 'I can leave.' A true smile danced on her mouth as she looked around. She was debating on what supplies she would need. Food and water were a must, but she probably couldn't go downstairs into the kitchen without getting caught. She looked in the closet for a sweater, knowing Suna's nights were a bit on the frosty side. Grabbing two robes; a thick red and a thin white, she poked her head out of the window.
There was quite a distance inbetween the ground and the window. Sakura looked around the sides of the house for any ridges or anything that might help her down but no such luck. She ran out of Gaara room quietly and tried to peek through Kankuro's glass door where a little tear was between the black cloths. Seeing that the room was vacant, Sakura quietly opened the door, and slipped in. She looked around confused as it was her first time in his room. The floor was mahogany wood, and was so smooth it was rather slippery. The walls were quite interesting as they had paintings on them, though, Sakura had no clue what they were supposed to represent.
Loud voices made their way upstairs making Sakura freeze in Kankuro's room. She stood as still as possible until she figured that the argument downstairs wasn't going to end soon. She let her eyes take in all the details of the room.
'Let's see what we can find here...'
Several minutes later, Sakura was squeezing her frail body through the window in Gaara's room. Finally getting her body to sit on the edge of the window, ducked her head back in, and grabbed her supplies; a breakable canteen full to the brim with water, several kunai and a sturdy tessen from Temari's room, and some matches she found in Kankuro's room. Sakura had also changed out of the very loose clothing she had been borrowing from Gaara's room and managed to find something that romotely fit her in Temari's room; a yukata. It was deep blue with magenta phalaenopsis flowers scattered everywhere. The obi was simple; a very pale pink. The chest area was quite large and she felt slightly embarressed that her chest was not as big as Temari's, but she merely tied the obi tighter. It was a bit too long for her, but at least it would keep her arms and feet warm. Sakura didn't like travelling to Konoha in a yukata, but it was better than something belonging to Gaara.
Sakura stood staring at the yukata. She remembered a moment in the past when she was smaller, much smaller. Infact, before she had come to live in Konoha, and her older sister had been allowed to go to the summer festival that was happening in town...
She shook her head to get rid of memories resurfacing. She hadn't thought about her sister in several weeks; that must've been the magic of Suna. Sakura paced around the room looking for something to keep her mind busy, but she didn't look fast enough, and the memories overcame her as she was cleaning Gaara's room...
Sakura had been sitting on her bed going hungry, rather envious that her older sister had been allowed to go to the festival while she had rarely been allowed outside. Sakura sat on her bed, getting angrier and angrier by the passing moment. Her sister was given so much freedom.
Her fingers clenched into fists, her chin rested on her brought up knees, her room smelling of human inhabitant, and her room cooler than the evening air because the windows were nailed shut.
Tap.
Sakura raised her head towards the door.
Click.
The door unlocked, opened slowly and soundlessly. Sakura sat on the bed wide-eyed with quiet terror.
"...Sakura...?" A hushed voice came from behind the door.
Her mother's figure came into the room.
Folding everything but the kunais into the robes she grabbed from Kankuro's closet, Sakura lifted the luggage out the window and swung it over her shoulder using the arms of the robe as straps. Struggling with the straps, chakra abruptly shot out of Sakura's toes, causing her to lose her balance for a second then regain it with a lurch in her stomache. The fall was not deadly, but it would cause her to break several rib bones and a leg or two.
'Damn...' Sakura thought as she looked down. 'I won't be able to get down with all this extra weight on me safely...' Instead of leaving all of it behind, Sakura unswung it off her shoulder, careful not to fall off the windowsill, and grabbed all the kunai she had.
Sakura held the straps of the robe against the outside wall, thrusting a kunai into the sand making the package hang. She made sure the kunai would not fall, and was not too deep. Tying another kunai to her bare right foot, holding one in both hands, and the last in her mouth; her teeth gripping onto the handle, Sakura slowly climbed out of the window, with the front of her body against the house. She used the kunai in her left hand to gently dig into the house while holding onto the window and her other kunai with her right hand.
'Here we go...' She thought while taking a deep breath of fresh air. Letting go of the window, Sakura fell from the building with her left kunai and her foot kunai slowing down gravity. It was all exhilerating and quite frightening, but Sakura couldn't help but close her eyes and let herself slip into the wind. Her eyes snapped open when the kunai went too far into the house and abruptly stopped, causing her to lose her footing and her arm to strain painfully from supporting her own weight. When her heart had slowed to a slower pace, Sakura loosened her teeth around the handle of the kunai that were causing her gums to scream in protest. She then thrust the other kunai from her right hand into the hard sand about half a meter apart from her other kunai.
Pulling her body upwards with some difficulty, she managed to stand with both feet on the two kunais. Grabbing the kunai from her mouth, she brought it up at eye level, aimed, and threw it at her kunai that was holding her hanging package above her. It hit with incredible accuracy, but only managed to nudge it a little, causing the package to stir, but not fall. Confused, Sakura grabbed the kunai from her sandle, and threw it even harder at the protruding kunai. It hit dead on, and caused it to fling off to the side, letting the package fall into Sakura's arms safely with a soft thump. Slowly opening the package, Sakura made sure her only canteen was safe and not broken.
Grinning to herself, Sakura re-tyed it and slung it over her shoulders. Looking behind her at the ground, she measured there was at least a meter in difference. Slowly crouching down and letting her hands grab the two kunai at her feet, Sakura positioned herself so that her feet were parellel to the wall, making it look like she was walking up the wall. Gripping onto the kunais, Sakura pushed hard with her legs, releasing the two sharp weapons, and allowing her to do a graceful back-flip to the ground. The sand was unsteady was more unsteady then she was used to causing her to lose her balance and trip on her yukata and fall backwards.
Making sure she was fine, Sakura grinned to herself before dusting the sand off her yukata, and flew out of the open cage.
It had already been two days and one night after Sakura had made her amazing escape from Sunagakure. She had managed to create a small fire the night before, but had heard several bandits trying to sneak up on her and in her frantic attempt to escape, she had accidently left her thick robe and her matches behind.
After, Sakura had spent the day walking through a small sand town she happened to come across, enjoying the weather, and what the town had few to share to her. The villagers didn't seem to mind much about a mute, infact, a kind young man thought a stranger's smile was worth enough food for a meal. The town didn't have many luxuries, but they all seemed to be very grateful and generous for the food and shelter they had recently recieved from the feudal lord.
Leaving the town with a full stomache, Sakura walked through the desert with the feel of cool sand seeping inbetween her toes. The sun had just set and the chilly air came with the dark sky. She put the thin robe over her shoulders, keeping her fingers clenched in her extra long sleeves. The half cresent moon on her left illuminated the sand into a deep silver. It had been waning the previous night and only a small slice had managed to escape the darkness. Sakura took joyful steps into the sand, the kunai in her hair keeping her messy bun in place, but then she noticed something.
She could see lights dancing in the distance, and quite a lot of people doing quite the same. Her feet had stopped moving to stare at the sand town. Her mind entranced, her eyes diluted, her heart pouding in feverish excitement, her legs going at a near dash towards the summer festival.
(-2-)'Akit..a...Kanto...' Sakura tilted her head as the read the last kanji. 'Matsuri?' The colourful banner flapped against the wind as noisy villagers passed by the various shops, store owners yelling price drops and sales. One takoyaki shopowner had a deal explaining that if you found his other siblings - all owning different shops - you would win a grand prize. Standing infront of the village in confusion, Sakura wondered what kind of village this was.
'A dog on a pole festival?' Sakura guessed, frustrated because she knew she had read the kanji wrong, but could not extract any other meaning from it. A sigh escaped her mouth. 'Solitary confinement does not do well on one's brain.' She shook her head in shame. But it wasn't complete solitary confinement. No, she could still walk around the house as she pleased in Gaara's house, even if she couldn't go outside, she could still leave her room. And she still had human interaction between those weeks of tantrums. Sakura looked up at the darkened sky. 'They should've noticed by now that i'm gone...' Sakura had played the over-emotional girl that just needed a time out when she was upset and was able to push that time to the limit over the past two weeks.
"Excuse me miss,"
Sakura turned around to see a handsome male standing behind her. She looked him over again, almost mistaking him for someone she knew while he stood there waiting for her in confusion. After confirming that he was no one she knew, Sakura quickly stepped out of the way for him and tilted her head down in apology.
The man chuckled and quickly explained, "No no, I was going to ask if you needed any help." Sakura lifted her head to see the man grinning warmly at her. "You seemed to be looking quite lost here." His tone carried light amusement. Without thinking, she pointed to the banner and shot a line of chakra at it, causing the banner to shake awkwardly.
His eyebrows narrowed in confusion, "I think it'll be a bit hard trying to steal that in front of everyone…" He assumed, unaware of her chakra mishap.
Sakura shook her head embarrassed.
"Oh!" His eyebrows inclining. "Are you having trouble reading it?" A slight blush appeared on her cheeks as she nodded.
The helpful man grinned and flicked his wood coloured hair out of his eyes. "It says, "Akito Kanto Matsuri." His brown hair seemed to make his almost black eyes softer. "Every summer, we hold a festival to expel the sandman, and to wish for a good harvest..." Sakura's mind froze at the word 'sandman'. The man continued on about something with bamboo sticks, but Sakura couldn't absorb anything he said because the fear was consuming her.
'…Gaara.' She thought quietly, afraid that if she thought it any louder he would appear. She was afraid that he'd take her back. Sakura backed away from the man who had apparently stopped talking and was waiting for an answer from her. The man asked what was wrong, but Sakura kept on backing away from the man and the entrance to the village, wishing to blend into the crowd. She wobbled a bit and noticed that her breathing was out of control.
She didn't hate Gaara, and nor did she hate Suna. In fact, she liked Suna; it kept her mind away from her past better than Konoha.
An unexpected hand grabbed her wrist and Sakura snapped back into reality.
"What's wrong?" He was still there. That man who helped her. Sakura stared at him for a moment, noticing that his features were a lot like a stranger she had met before. She smiled shook her head quickly, making her pink bangs fall in front of her eyes.
"Thinking about man in another man's presence isn't very good." She concluded.
"Pfft. Walking about when you're a mute and vulnerable isn't very good either, Sakura." Her second voice added.
Suddenly, the man leaned in and gently brushed her curtain of hair away from her eyes. Noticing that he was close to her, a slight blush popped onto Sakura's cheeks. The young fellow chuckled and let his hand stroke her warm cheek. Sakura looked down at her feet in embarrassment, unable to look at the man in the eye and unable to hide her tiny smile. The cool night wind blew Sakura's side bangs as the man tilted his head on the side low enough to make their eyes meet. Sakura lifted her eyes enough to see into his.
He leaned in even closer making her close her eyes, and he brushed his lips against hers, waiting for her to initiate the kiss. Sakura's breath became shorter in anticipation, and she started to get a numbing sensation in her fingers.
If she didn't hate Suna nor Gaara, then why was she so afraid of going back? Was it really Gaara?
The man stroked her cheek again, and kissed her gently, his lips soft and tender.
Was it because Gaara carried a scent of blood? Or was it because she was imprisoned with him?
Warm body heat wrapped around her as the man held her close to his manly figure. Despite the passionate kiss these two strangers shared, Sakura couldn't stop the rush of thoughts that stomped out every other thought and feeling she would usually go through in this situation.
If Gaara didn't enforce that she had to stay with him at all times, would she still dislike him so? If she let her go outside and attend festivals, then would Sakura be happy?
Sakura's tongue froze in the man's mouth, and her whole body went frigid.
"…Wait a minute." She thought slowly as the man stopped the kiss, and led her through the crowd to somewhere more private, yanking her arm there. "…What did that just say?"
Replay
If she let her go outside and attend festivals, then would Sakura be happy?
"She?" Sakura was shocked. She was replacing Gaara with her mother. Then it all made sense why she was so unhappy. Sakura stumbled through the crowd with her guide, and through her thoughts without a guide.
A/N – From this point on, it gets kind of out of the plot of Naruto. I'll tie it back and forth from the plot as much as possible, but I can't tell much without giving it away. x3
-Kim
P.S – love is always needed. S2