True Fear

It took half a day of running but we finally made it back to the village and were now waiting for mum or dad to answer the door. "Maybe they're not home." I knocked on the door a second time, but after a minute we still got no reply. "We could get something to eat for lunch? Try again afterwards." Sasori just gave a nod of approval and stepped aside so I could lead the way.

Walking away to find somewhere to eat, my mind was drawn back to last night. Thankfully Sasori hadn't brought it up yet so I didn't have to try and explain anything, he seemed to be deep in his own thoughts. I wasn't sure if I should be grateful about that or not. I had no idea what came over me. Sure it was really sweet of him to buy me that book, but still I shouldn't have kissed him. Even if it was only on the check. Every time I thought about that moment I could feel my face heat up and stomach do back flips. I felt sick.

I took in a deep shaky breath and tried to get my thoughts back on track. With the mid day sun glaring down on us, the gentle breeze was refreshing. Breathing in again I watched the wind play with the trees that we passed by on our way to Haru, my favourite coffee shop in the whole village. It wasn't anything fancy, just a small corner cafe near my old school. I used to go there before classes started to read. It was always cosy, never to hot or to cold. Homely, that's what it felt like to me.

Once inside, the smell hit me and I felt like I was thirteen again. Everything came rushing back, the coffee, the still oven warm bread, the freshly picked flowers on the counter. This was the place I needed to be to figure everything out. I went off to find a table while Sasori ordered our food.

Sitting in the back corner waiting for the redhead to find me I tried to once again think about last night and what happened. 'Why is this bugging me so much?' It was an innocent thank you for a thoughtful gift. There, that's all it was. No more thinking about it. No more weird feelings. That's the end of it. I firmly nodded my head to myself only to look up to see Sasori with two drinks and a raised brow. "What?" I tried to play it off and was grateful that he just shrugged and let it go.

We spoke causally while we waited for our food to arrive, nothing to in-depth, he was finally back to full strength which was good. Sipping at my tea, I half listened to whatever it was Sasori was trying to tell me, something about the mission I think, I was off in my own little world, replaying my old life here. I tried to keep the smile off my face so as not to give myself away but clearly I didn't do a good enough job when Sasori stopped mid sentence.

I looked up to see he had a curious look on his face, but he didn't have time to ask me before our food was placed in front of us. Thanking the waitress as she left, I dug in, enjoying every mouthful thoroughly. "Should we stay the night again? It might be pretty late before we can leave."

"It would be best to leave as soon as possible." Sasori urged but after a moment of silence he added, "We'll discuss it later."

Satisfied with his reply I scoffed the last few bites of my lunch down and wiped my mouth clean. "Ready to leave?" I stretched my arms over my head as I stood up and started for the exit.

"Kaiya I haven't even finished eating yet." Sasori yelled after me but I was already out the door, the warm sun hitting my face.

I let another smile claim my face and I breathed in deep the slightly cool air. My peace didn't last long though when a worried feeling came over me. I looked around but didn't see anything out of the ordinary so I was about to dismiss the feeling when my eyes landed on someone. Konorabu. Crap.

I wanted to run back inside the coffee shop but before I got the chance he'd spotted me and was walking over. "Kaiya? You're back in town?"

Panicking I tried to form a coherent sentence in my head before I replied. "Um, yeah, just for the day." Cursing myself for not paying close enough attention I tried to casually look for Sasori.

"You're not staying?" He almost seemed hurt by the fact. I shook my head no, not trusting myself to speak again. "Spend the day with me then? I haven't seen you in years Kaiya, I...I missed you."

My eyes went wide and it felt like my brain was going a million miles an hour trying to find an acceptable way to decline without being rude but honestly I should have just been straight with him because what came out was worse than any reaction Konorabu would have given. "I'm actually here with my boyfriend." STUPID! Mentally berating myself for being such an idiot I watched him to see if he believed me.

"Your...boyfriend?" His face dropped as he looked around for someone that didn't actually exist. "Where is he? He's not with you."

"Oh, well he's just ehh..." I looked around as well and my eyes landed on Sasori walking out of the shop and towards us. 'Oh god help me.' I shoot a smile to the red head and waved him over. When he got to us I stepped closer to him, to which he raised a brow. "This is Sasori," I took a deep breath and prayed Sasori wouldn't kill me on the spot for this. "My boyfriend." I shot him a look begging him to play along and praying he understood. Thanking any god who was listening, he put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer. "Sasori, this is Konorabu."

Sasori shook the strangers offered hand "Pleasure to meet you." He sounded pleasant enough but I could tell it was fake. He turned to address me, his face softening. "Kai, we should go and see if your parents are home."

Forcing myself out of shock from what just came out of my partners mouth, I agreed. "It was good seeing you Konorabu. See you later." With that we walked off leaving the boy alone. "Thank you for that." I said once we were out of ear shoot.

"You going to tell me what that was about?" He asked, looking straight ahead.

"I'd rather pretend it didn't happen if that's alright with you." I mumbled with my head down towards the ground. I couldn't bring myself to look at him, I was too embarrassed to face him just yet.

He took his time replying and I held my breath the whole time. "If that's what you want." Something in his voice told me he didn't want to drop it so I was grateful he did.

We stopped in front of my parents house for the second time that day and I knocked on the door hoping they were home this time. My partial luck held out as dad open the door to greet us. "Sweetheart, you're back again!" He enveloped me in a back breaking hug which I retuned just as tightly. "We've missed you."

"I've missed you too dad." I cried, trying in vain to hold back the tears threatening to flow down my face. We finally pulled apart and dad seem to only then notice the redhead was with me.

"Sasori." Dad acknowledged him with a tilt of his head.

"Enarkai." Sasori replied copying dad's motion.

"Where is mum? Is she home too?" I questioned once we were inside.

"She's in the kitchen cleaning up after lunch." Dad pointed towards the kitchen as if I'd forgot where it was. I grinned like a child and walked off to find her.

Sasori watched as Kaiya left to greet her mother, a slight bounce in her step as she walked, hair swaying behind her. Forgetting he wasn't alone, he let out a soft content sigh with the tiniest hint of a smile, he's eyes growing gentle. Quiet chuckling to his right brought him back to reality. He looked over to see that Kaiya's father was still there beside him. He fought the embarrassment that threatened to take over him and turned to see amusement shining on the man's face.

"I'm sorry for laughing," He stopped to compose himself a little before continuing. "I just remember the first time I looked at Katie like that."

"Like what?" Sasori asked confused.

"Like she's the most beautiful woman you've ever seen." He looked toward the kitchen as he said this, his voice filled with adoration.

"That's not wha-"

"Not that she needs it," Enarkai cut in "But take care of her." He looked back at the boy next to him and smiled warmly. "Understand?" Sasori's eyes went wide when he realised what the man was trying to say. He gave one firm nod in acknowledgement, to stunned to do much else. "Good." They both look up as Kaiya and her mother walked into the living room giggling to themselves about something unknown to the two males in the room.

After mum had finished cleaning up we went back to join dad and Sasori in the living room. Dad looked to be amused by something and whatever it was, seemed to have set Sasori on edge.

"What were you two talking about?" Mum asked with a knowing smile directed at Sasori, to which he pretty much all but ignored. I drew my eyebrows together in confusion wondering if I was missing something. "You two are staying the night, correct?" Mum questioned as she took a seat, looking expectantly at me.

Before I got a chance to answer Sasori jumped in first. "No, unfortunately we have to get back as soon as possible."

"Oh that's too bad." Mum sighed and turned to me. "We've missed you around here."

I felt my heart sink in that moment. "I miss being here too." I walked up to mum and practically fall into her arms. "Oh! I have something for you." I jumped up and went over to my pack that I'd left just inside the door to grabbed the letter and handed it to dad.

"From Pain?" He turned the letter over in his hands examining it closely before opening it.

Mum and I looked over dad's shoulder to see what it was. It was a photo of me the day I'd finished my first year of training, my fifteenth birthday. I was smiling up at the camera, my hair a mess from working out with mum, I still had a little bit of sweat running down my face. I was so proud of myself that day and I was sure I would pass the tests that would follow in two days time. Dad flipped the photo over to see someone had written something on the back. 'Kaiya 18/3' The date it was taken.

We Spent another two hours there catching up, mum ended up finding an old photo of me when I was about five to take back with me and she made sure we took some food with us for the trip. When it was finally time to leave again mum and dad walked us to the towns entrance to see us off.

"We're going to miss you baby." Mum hugged me tight like she was seriously contemplating never letting go. A few feet away dad was talking to Sasori, it was too far to hear clearly but they seemed pretty intense about whatever it was they were discussing.

"I'm going to miss you too mum, but I have to go." I pulled back from her and smiled as best as I could. I looked up at the sky to see a few fluffy clouds lazily moving over the sky, hopefully they don't turn into rain clouds. Squaring my shoulders I turned around to face Sasori and my father. "Ready to go?"

The red head nodded in response and walked over to me and we made our way through the gate to start our day and a half journey back home.

The forest didn't take long to set in and the sky disappeared entirely. There were a few birds flying around here and there but for the most part there wasn't any animals around. It was peaceful though, calming. The fresh air filling my lungs relaxed my every muscle. It was only two hours into the trip when the sun started to go down and we had to look for somewhere to rest for the night. There was a small clearing off to the side of the road, it was far enough that we would be easily missed by passer-bys giving us some privacy at least, but when we got closer it became apparent that someone else had already claimed the spot. We both leapt into the trees to avoid being seen by the clearings occupants and to get a better view of who was there.

It was obvious that they were ninja from a quick glance, a couple of traps had been placed around the site and in another tree on the other side of the clearing one of them was standing watch, well at least that's what he was probably suppose to be doing. What he was actually doing was dozing off slightly, about ready to fall off the branch he was laying on. Soon another man walked into view and after examining him I was shocked speechless to see it was our missed bounty.

Mouth hanging open and eyes wide I gripped onto Sasori's arm to show him, as if he hadn't already seen. "It's him!" I whispered frantically, trying to wrap my head around the sheer luck of the situation.

"I can see that, thank you." Sasori answered through gritted teeth. I let go of his arm and sat forward to get a better look at the scene, the wheels in my head turned as I tried to think of what to do, however I didn't have long to think when something flew past me only millimetres from my ear. I looked down to see a kunai protruding from the ground right in front of our target who was now staring right the us.

A second passed that felt like an eternity as we got ready to engage the enemy. I held my breath and watched for the slightest movement of an attack. My whole body was tense with anticipation, as that one second dragged on.

Sasori, unsurprisingly, was the first to move. He leaped from the branch, kunai in hand, and dived straight for the target. The sound of metal hitting metal sang through-out the clearing as the two males began to slash at each other, trying to make a fatal hit to end the fight quickly, but it seemed they were evenly matched so neither got the upper-hand.

I spun around to see the person who had made the first move, a large man that looked like he could snap me in half without batting an eye. As I jumped down from the tree I made the hand signs to super charge my daggers before I ran towards him. The electricity sparking along the blades made a soft humming sound that kept my motions in rhythm, but despite being so big he was doing a good job dodging every attack I made, and when I tried to increase my speed I almost lost my footing. I jumped back to give myself a quick breather and time to think. It had been at least fifteen minutes when I realized he was slowly pushing me back further away from the clearing, trying to separate us from the others, me from Sasori.

I rolled away from the shuriken he aimed for my throat just in time and lunged at him again with new vigour. I called up all the energy I could find to just land one hit. I had to finish this fast before I was to far away from my only back up. Sweat dripped into my eyes, stinging them, making it harder to focus. I had to rely on every skill I had as it would take only one mistake to end my life. I pushed harder, trying to find an opening to actually land a hit.

As if the gods themselves were listening I found it. I slashed at his side and he fell down to one knee holding the gash along his ribs. I raised my dagger to his throat, intent on doing the only thing that would truly end the battle.

I looked into his eyes and froze as memories flashed before me. Rain pouring down, mixing with blood. The metal of a knife somehow reflecting light even though it was dark from the storm. Pure undiluted fear as the metal came closer to it's mark. That look was mirrored right back to me as I tried to moved my arm to complete the action. "Kaiya!" My eyes widened and I turned my head to see Sasori running towards me, that same fear coating his face as well but before I could speak white hot pain shot through me. I looked down to see the handle of my dagger sticking out of my stomach. I felt my legs go weak and soon the wind was knocked out of my lungs as I hit the ground hard.

I couldn't think, I couldn't breathe, everything went dull except for the pain. On instinct I tried to heal the wound but no chakra came, did I use it all while fighting? Blood was spewing from the wound with no sign of slowing down, I felt cold. Tears leaked down my face washing away some of the sweat and dirt. Helplessly I tried to keep the pressure but any strength I had left was leaving me. My eyes grew heavy and it became even harder to breathe, it felt like I was drowning. I tried to scream for help but nothing came out. The world around me began to darken and fade away, as I was losing consciousness one thing became frighteningly clear.

I was dying, and no one could save me.

After what seemed like forever to Sasori he had finally finished off the two men in the clearing and was now trying to find where Kaiya was. Last he saw, she had been fighting the one that first spotted them, but now she was no where in sight. He called out her name but got no response. A little worried, he walked in the direction that the first kunai had come from, looking for any signs that could tell him which way they went.

The further he went the more worried he got, there were now very obvious tells of a struggle everywhere you looked. He picked up his pace when he heard a male yell out in pain, his worry calming down at that, knowing Kaiya was the one to inflict whatever it was that hurt the man, but when they finally came into view he bolted for them. She was just standing there holding the dagger, shaking like a leaf. 'Why isn't she finishing him off?' He was almost to them when he couldn't take it any more, he had to break her out of whatever it was that had her frozen. "Kaiya!"

That broke the spell but in the worse possible way. Time slowed down, as he watched her turn away from the bleeding man to look at him, as the man noticed her lack of attention and took full advantage of it, as he grabbed her wrist and forced her to turn the short sword on herself, and finally as she fell to the ground in a heap, holding her stomach tight. "NO!" With a sudden burst of speed Sasori was in front of him in seconds, anger fueling he actions he grabbed the man by the hair, looked him dead in the eyes and snapped his neck. The body drop to the forest floor with a thud and that was the last sound he ever made.

Fear returning to him, Sasori rushed to Kaiya's side. Her breathing was laboured and pulse was weak, but she was still alive, for now. He quickly went to work, he wasn't a medic but he hopefully knew enough to save her. He went through her medic pouch and got out all the gauze and bandages she had. Gently he pulled the dagger out, careful not to make things worse and threw it aside. More blood came pouring out and he had to work fast before she lost too much. Wrapping her up as best he could for now he picked her and her weapons up and ran. He needed to find shelter for the night, any old clearing wouldn't do this time. Taking care not to jostle her too much he moved a fast as his legs would go, looking for anything that would give them cover. He eventually stumbled upon a cave, and after a quick inspection deemed it good enough.

He placed her down so he could set a trap for at least some protection while he tended to her more thoroughly. The area seemed void of another's presence but it wouldn't be wise to take chances now. He was done and back at her side in two minutes, checking her breathing and pulse again, she had gotten worse. On top of her weak heartbeat and shallow breaths, she had bled through her bandages and was deathly cold.

He mentally listed off everything that needed to be done while he did his best to clean and re-dressed her stomach. She needed heat first and foremost, then water. They needed more protection but that would have to wait until after he was sure she wouldn't bleed out. Once he had finished re-bandaging her, he wrapped her up tightly in both of their cloaks to keep in what little body heat she had left, and then set out to find wood to build a fire, and food if possible for when she woke up. So caught up in what needed to be done he didn't have time to feel just how scared he was that she might not make it to morning.

A/N: WELL! What did you think? I know it's a little shorter than usual but to keep going at this point would make it much too long and I felt it hit a natural stopping point there. Also you may have notice my writing style slightly change once they hit the clearing, that's where I picked up from and have spent the last eight hours finishing this chapter while google searching tips and tricks on how to improve my writing. If you did please tell me what you think. is it any better?

Anyway I hope you enjoyed reading!