Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Together With You: A Gaara Story ❯ Feelings Discovered ( Chapter 6 )

Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine. Neither is Gaara.........Shiruki, Kasuke, Hiruka, Makuro, and Takuya are mine, however.

 

Recap:

She attempted her shadow clone jutsu, something she picked up from Naruto, and it worked. The clones ran off, herself included, and Takuya and Kasuke easily defeated them. The stalked closer to the only Shiruki left and glared menacingly, promising a slow and torturous death. Shiruki was beside herself. Stuck. Like a rat in a trap. A fly on fly paper. There was no escape and she had lost far too much blood to put up any more of a fight. This fight would not last too much longer.

 

 

 

Chapter 6: Feelings Discovered

 

Makuro's screams finally stopped. Takuya looked over to where the screams were coming from and saw a twisted Gaara. Half of his face covered in sand and the other normal. Takuya stared in fear and dropped his kunai. Kasuke saw Gaara and stopped also. He backed away and Takuya stayed, frozen in fear. Gaara's look only got more sinister as he neared them. His sand lashed towards him, engulfing his lower body, bringing him to the ground on his stomach. As he screamed, Takuya clawed at the ground desperately trying to escape his premature demise. Seeing this and wanting to prevent his own death, Kasuke ran as fast as he could far away from the monster that had his comrade. Shiruki fell to her knees, holding her ribs. Her vision swayed as she tried to stay conscious. It was bad enough that Gaara's demon was partially free. They certainly didn't need hers free too. The blood kept seeping from her wound. “Gaara...” she choked through her unbearable pain, hoping she could get through to him. No luck. Gaara showed no signs of even coming close to stopping. In fact, he acted as if he didn't even hear her cry out to him. Instead, the sand completely engulfed Takuya's body, cutting off his air supply. Shiruki forced herself to her feet, blood dripping onto the ground, staining the dirt. She stumbled over to Gaara quickly, nearly tripping over herself, trying to prevent an unnecessary death that would, in time, ruin Gaara forever. She stumbled into his chest, clutching his shirt tightly. “Gaara! Snap out of it!” she pleaded, tears falling from her eyes.

 

Gaara glared at her. The sand weakened a little as he looked down at a crying Shiruki, clutching to him for dear life. The sand began to slowly retreat back into his gourd as Shiruki's tears brought him back to his senses. Once the sand was completely gone, a lifeless Takuya lay on the ground, gasping for air. He quickly regained his breath and fled after an already gone Kasuke. “It's...alright,” Gaara said, regaining himself from his inner demon. He had made her cry again. It made his stomach turn. His face was back to normal. It was the same, troubled expression as before.

 

Shiruki looked up at him and touched his left side of his face. “Gaara...” she said through tears. A smile relfecting relief crossed her lips. She hugged him tightly around his neck, burying her face into his neck. He was back. She was so relieved. Her pain was still strangling her, but she wanted to remain like this just a little longer.

 

Gaara closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around Shiruki's waist protectively as if to tell her he was still here and that he was sorry for the pain he put he through just now. The sun completely set as they held each other three miles from the Leaf Village.

 

Shiruki was soon teetering on the edge of consciousness. The tears and the pain was overwhelming, but she had to remain awake. If she didn't, she risked harming Gaara. She didn't want that in the least. She slumped against Gaara's chest, letting exhaustion take its toll on her. She felt herself being lifted into Gaara's arms. She felt him walking again and relaxed with the night breeze blowing gently. “Thank you, Gaara,” she whispered. He looked down at her and saw a tree a little further. His pace increased and Shiruki looked around. “Gaara...wh-“

 

“You're bleeding.” He set her down against the tree, not knowing what to do. He knew the bleeding had to stop, but that's all. He wasn't a medical ninja, nor did he know any healing jutsu considering he never needed them anyways. He knelt in front of her, awaiting any kind of instruction.

 

Shiruki looked at him curiously for a moment until she caught on. She slipped the backpack off and unzipped it, revealing bandages and medical supplies. “Um...” she said shyly, holding the bandages out to him. The sharp pain in her ribs reminded her that now was no time to be shy. Her face contorted with pain as she sharply inhaled. When the pain spasm subsided, her face returned to normal; cold and lifeless. “Wrap me up?” she asked quietly. She looked at Gaara after he took the bandages. She began to slide the shirt up, hissing at the pain. She looked down at the wound and sighed. She slid her arm out of the sleeve, allowing the shirt to drape from shoulder to mid-torso, before completely removing it when she got her strength back. She looked at Gaara and saw him blushing a bright pink as he moved closer after slipping his gourd off. “Just wrap it this way,” she said, motioning to wrap it around her ribs, then diagonally up to her shoulder, wincing in pain.

 

Gaara nodded as she held her arm up, the other out, and winced again. He started to wrap her with such softness that Shiruki had to tell him to wrap tighter. “Better?” he asked in his cold, quiet voice after increasing the pressure. Shiruki nodded and Gaara kept wrapping. It wa then that he noticed exactly how close they were. He resisted the urge to pull away and shrink back into his own space, but only because Shiruki was injured. If he left her wound untreated or at least protected, for that matter, she could get sick. Once he finished, he tied the bandage, securing it.

 

Shiruki let her arm down to relax and sighed. When she noticed Gaara hadn't pulled away from tying the bandages, she opened her eyes and looked at him. She blushed as his face was inches from hers, looking at her also. “Thank you...Gaara,” she breathed. She all of a sudden felt self-conscious, but couldn't do anything about it with Gaara as close as he was. He nodded slightly, not breaking eye contact. She began to mess with her pants, a sign of nervousness Gaara knew all too well. He stayed there, frozen, from what it appeared. He knew he should back away and give Shiruki her space, but he couldn't bring himself to budge. He didn't want to leave her side yet. Shiruki, then, brought her hand to his forehead symbol and traced it, trying not to focus on how close they were. She saw Gaara lean closer and his eyes shut. Her heartbeat increased exponentially. He was showing emotions again. Shiruki was elated. Maybe it wasn't impossible to go back to the way they were before. These negative emotions were just a speed bump in their relationship. It was an obstacle that needed to be overcome. And it wasn't as impossible as it seemed at first. She didn't think he'd get closer. She'd half-expected him to retract himself from her, but instead, he was drawing closer.

 

His face brushed past hers and Shiruki stopped tracing, bringing her arm back down. Gaara's forehead met Shiruki's shoulder, his breathing staggered. “What...is this emotion?” he whispered. “I don't understand...I felt it before when we were younger. Everytime I was around you...it always happened.”

 

Shiruki absent-mindedly rested her head on his and brought her arms up to his back. She held him close, hearing his breathing cease momentarily. She ran her fingers across the nape of his neck, feeling him shiver. “Tell me what it feels like,” she whispered back, just as soft, running her fingers through his hair, bringing him closer.

 

“I feel...warmth...happiness...” he began, clutching his chest, grazing her breast. “Like this is what's supposed to happen...”

 

Shiruki started laughing, something Gaara hadn't heard for years. “You sound like Neji!” she giggled. She stopped when she felt Gaara kiss her neck.

 

“I'm serious,” he said coldly.

 

Shiruki smiled and placed her lips on the junction of his neck and shoulder. “I know you are, Gaara,” she whispered against his skin. She kissed him delicately and leaned back on the tree, holding him. “I know because I feel it too.” Gaara looked at her. She was looking at the sky with a thoughtful, longing look in her eyes. “It's called love, Gaara...” she whispered lovingly to him.

 

“Love?” he breathed. Shiruki nodded and looked at him. Studied her face for a while. He nodded and started to get up. He picked up his gourd and put it on, looking at a dazed Shiruki. He held out his hand, snapped her from her daze. She took it and Gaara pulled her to her feet effortlessly. He helped her back into her shirt after kissing her neck again. She bit back a moan and smiled at him. She blushed, forgetting about her shirt.

 

Shiruki looked at him again. A look of adoration filled her eyes as she brought her hand to her cheek to cup it gently. “This emotion...love?” Gaara nodded. “I've heard others express it simply. They just say, `I love you.' It's how you express it.” Gaara nodded in understanding. Shiruki smiled and leaned closer to his ear, wrapping her arms around his neck, running her fingers into his hair. “I love you, Gaara...” she whispered softly into his ear.

 

Gaara's face changed from cold to confused...and happy. “If that's the case...” he paused, unsure of what to say. “Then, in return...I would say, `I love you, too'?” he asked. Shiruki smiled and nodded happily before kissing his cheek. She grabbed his hand and led him to the Leaf Village after grabbing her bookbag.

 

 

TBC...

 

 

A/N: whelp....chapter 6 outta the way ^^ tell me whatcha think ^_~