Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Year of Change ❯ Chapter 2, Part 2 ( Chapter 7 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the coolness that goes with it. I just write fanfiction for it in hopes that it can live up to the awesomeness of the actual thing. That being said, everything else is mine. I am not making any money from this nor am I trying to rip anyone off. Tis for pure enjoyment only.

 

Chapter 2, Part 2: Night Terrors and Daily Pleasures

 

Gaara was sitting on the school roof, mulling over all of it in his head.

 

He was at war…

 

Not so much in the physical sense of the word, but he had no doubt that he was going to war with Uchiha. The actual flag had not been waved yet, but it was only a matter of time. For the most part he felt like he was sitting on the other side of a chess board only to find out that he had no playing pieces except the King, while Sasuke had everything. All he could do was wait till the first move was made, and sadly… he didn't get to go first.

 

Sasuke was popular, and he wasn't. One win for Sasuke.

 

Sasuke was Captain of the Kendo club and practiced five times a week with the school team. Gaara only jogged two miles in the morning.. Another win for Sasuke.

 

Sasuke had money to burn… Gaara lived on his brother and sister's salary. Despite the trust fund he had, he was saving it for when he went to college. Three wins for Sasuke.

 

Sasuke was the student body president. Gaara didn't even bother to go to the meetings. Four wins…

 

Gaara's grades were better then Sasuke's. One win for Gaara.

 

The odds didn't seem to be in his favor, at least when it came to the school. Sasuke had everything that was almost required to be popular.

 

What else he knew of Sasuke didn't make things better. There had been a day when Gaara was in the school library looking something up for one of his mid term projects and without thinking he had typed in Uchiha in the search engine. What he got made him feel a little ill.

 

The Uchiha family was a big one and with old money. They specialized in special operations training for police and military. It was run by Sasuke's father and was going to be passed down to Sasuke himself in later years. Gaara had also found an article on Sasuke's older brother, Itachi. Although the article didn't say anything about him being related to the main family, it was hard to believe that he wasn't. His eyes and hair were the same as his little brother's and the face belonged to the mother. He wouldn't have to worry about the brother possibly stepping in... He seemed to be on some quest to improve himself and his skills in another country. Or so the article said.

 

He got up to peer over the fence and look down at a group of girls walking below. Sasuke's little wolf pack lead by a girl named Karin. He'd seen them out and about the school most of the time, and normally they didn't pay him any mind. Lately though… he's notice out of the corner of his eye how they would stop talking when he went by to stare at them. Naruto had also made a passing comment once at lunch time when they sat a table close to him.

 

“Hook ya and then break ya.”

 

He wondered if they were looking for him now… probably not. He hoped not. Sasuke could have easily told them that he came up to the roof. While he could be with Sakura fairly well, he wasn't sure if he could handle that lot,

 

Gaara sat back down. So what was he going to do? He wasn't going to stop getting good grades just to make someone leave him alone. His pride and the fact that he wouldn't be able to get his diploma wouldn't let him. It was in the agreement with the school… if he took the honor classes… and passed them all with flying colors, they were willing to over look the fact that he had missed two years. Yes, he could take the GED, but that wasn't as good as the actual diploma.

 

He would simply have to wait and see what happened. Maybe he could win with just one piece.

 

0o0o0o0o0o0

 

“I would like to try putting you on the Doxepin again.” Dr. Hataka said.

 

Gaara was silent at the comment, although the look he was giving Hataka was more then enough to tell the man what he thought of this idea.

 

“I know you had some… unique side effects before… but you're in a different environment and more mentally stable now. It wouldn't be a lot, just for a week or two.”

 

“I really don't like this idea.” Gaara said between gritted teeth.

 

“I know you don't.”

 

“What if I'm not ready?”

 

“Well… try it tonight. If it goes well, then you can take it till it's gone, and you're body should be use to sleeping at night by then. If not…” he shrugged. “We can try again later.”

 

Gaara was quiet for moment before finally nodding his head.

 

“Good. I think it will do you a lot of good.”

 

“I thought sleeping pills were actually bad for you.”

 

“They are… if take for long term. But this is only for a little bit. You shouldn't have to worry about any addictions or dependencies. Now…” he looked at something on his note pad for a moment. “How goes you're relationship?”

 

Gaara blinked at him. “My… relationship?” He thought for a moment. “It's going well. Why?”

 

“Truthfully? I'm curious and a little worried. Normally people with your history Gaara have two problems.” He held up one finger. “They can't commit to a relationship for a long period of time. They aren't emotionally stable and have a hard time understanding their partner.” He held up another finger. “They are overly sexually active.”

 

“I thought that was a problem all teenagers have.”

 

His comment made the therapist chuckle. “It is, but it is also long term as well, but is just the thing. You don't have these two problems because your reaction to your abuse is different. Instead of becoming more of a…” he paused for a moment trying to think of the word.

 

“Man whore?” Gaara supplied.

 

“Not what I was looking for, but it will work. Instead of becoming of a `man whore' you've refused any type of contact, both mental and physical. You closed yourself off from everyone and everything. So it's interesting to see what will happen now that you're opening up. It's also concerning because I am not sure how you are going to react to the feelings that you're peers have already mastered.”

 

Gaara looked off to the side for a moment, thinking. He tapped his fingers on the chair before looking back at the white haired man.

 

“How do you think I will do?”

 

0o0o0o0o0o0

 

He lay in his bed staring up at the ceiling. His chest was tight and his heart was thundering in his ears. Gaara took a deep breath and tried to relax. It was just one night. The first night. Most likely it would go well. His therapist thought that he would do fine, he needed to have a little faith in him. The small bottle of doxepin sat on his bedside table along with the empty glass of water he had taken some time ago.

 

Closing his eyes he too in a deep breath. He held it till he counted to five in his head and slowly let it out. It took a while for his body to relax completely. When he did she started to mentally think:

 

`One sheep… two sheep… three sheep…'

 

He opened his eyes and felt drosy when he did, causing his body to panic again. Growling in frustration, he rolled over and buried his head into the pillow. Was it really important that he sleep like everyone else?

 

Gaara peeked on of eyes out of the pillow. While it was still dark in the room, he had left his little lamp on… should he wake up in the middle of the night; he wanted to know where he was. Next to the lamp was a small picture that he had just recently put there. It was one of those professional pictures with him, Sakura, Naruto, Hinata and a few other people that Naruto hung out with. The two couples were sitting in the back while everyone was sitting in the front.  It was medium sized photo that Naruto had surprised him with one morning.

 

“They came out really well, didn't they?” He had said.

 

No, they hadn't come out well… they had come out fantastic. Gaara's eyes filtered across it, moving down to the people in front row. They were all guys… one with a lazy expression on his face, one that needed to go on a diet and another with a piercing stare. What had their names been? He couldn't remember. They been rushed into joining them in the photo by Naruto…

 

His eyes then moved over to Sakura. She was what had made the photo fantastic to him. Her sparkling eyes, bright smile and that dress… why did women wear dresses like that? Gaara began to wonder what it would be like to do more with her then just hold her hand… to hug her… to kiss her. To hear her while kissed and nibbled her neck… to… to…

 

Gaara's eyes closed as he finally fell asleep.

 

He was standing in the corridor again. Not the one in his home, but the one in… that place. It was so long that it went farther then his eyes could see. Dim lights overhead gave it an eerily feel, its light reflecting off small metal squares on the doors there. Each one had a symbol on it, although he didn't know what any of them meant.

 

His body was shaking violently. He didn't want to be here… and he knew that he couldn't simply wake up, but be victim to the dream that was about to happen. The light over him flickered and he started to move. He didn't want to be in any part of the hallway that would be dark… that was when one of the doors would open.

 

There was a difference in this dream. The cold concrete floor was damp. He looked down, watching the small ripples his feet made as he moved. A pipe must have busted somewhere and flooded the floor. At least he wouldn't be able to see that horrible lime green color. Another light flickered and he walked faster.

 

A door opened behind him.

 

“I'll find you… you can't hide from me, you little brat.” It didn't sound a like a voice at all, but a thing. Something large with teeth and claws. It's voice wasn't really a voice, but a growl that hand learned to form words.

 

He gritted his teeth and started to jog. The lights behind him were going out faster and he could hear the stomping sounds as something was coming from him. There was heavy breathing as the thing behind him tried to catch up to him.

 

A door in front of him opened suddenly, but instead of going in when it opened, it went out.  It hit him square in the face and he fell backwards. Something warm was flowing from one side of his face. Touching it, his tattoo was bleeding again. He rolled to his feet and ran around the door, seeing two decaying hands emerging from the shadows of the room, reaching out for him…

 

“My boy… my boy…” A raspy voice said softly. “Give me my boy…” It was quickly drowned out by the sound of the thundering foot steps coming for him.

 

He was running so hard now that his legs were screaming at him to stop and the air in his lungs burned. He was barely keeping up with the lights as they were going out. Now they were going out fasert then he could up, first one… two… then three lights ahead of him were out. The thing behind him was close, its breath hot on his neck and he could almost feel something trying to grab his shoulder.

 

“I'll break you… break you in two.”

 

All the lights in the hallway went out. Two hands that felt like steel bars warped around his neck, choking him. He fell to his knees, clawing and batting at the hands around his neck, trying to scream, trying to call for help. He kept trying, fighting, jerking, kicking and…

 

…he woke up in one corner of the room on all fours. He was banging his head repeatedly into the wall. He was screaming something, but it was muffled by the pillow that one hand had stuffed into his mouth. His thought hurt, as if he had been screaming for a while.

 

He felt disoriented, as if the hands were still around his neck and blood was still running down one side of his face. It took him a moment to realize that the hands he thought were around his neck were actually on his shoulders, shaking him. Gaara shoved the person away from him and tried to crawl away from where they were. It took him ten minutes to remember the layout of his room before he found the little trash can in his room. Pulling it close, he huddled around it with his head hanging over the opening before becoming violently sick. Even after he emptied the contents of his stomach, he dry heaved till his mid section hurt and tears were running down his eyes.

 

Once he was done, he felt hands touch him again. He moaned at them, tried to move away, afraid that they would try to choke him. They wrapped around his shoulders and pulled him away from the trash can and into a hug. A voice was speaking to him, chanting something, but wasn't able to make it out at first till he woke up a little more.

 

“… it's ok, Gaara. It's ok. It's safe here. It's ok…”

 

His sister holding him, gently rocking him back and forth, chanting the same thing over and over while he trembled in her arms. He clung to her as tears still ran down his eyes. He barely noticed as he brother came to into the room, took something off his bedside table and then walked out. It was much later when his tears stopped… and even longer for his trembling to go away.

 

Later on when he looked at the table, he noticed that the pills were gone.

 

0o0o0o0o0o0

 

“Will you come up and have lunch with me?”

 

Sakura stared at Gaara. The class before lunch had just let out and Sakura had gathered her things and was about to head out the door. “You don't want to eat in the cafeteria?”

 

He shook his head. “No. I just want to eat with you today.”

 

“Well…ok. Let me just go and drop my stuff off and I'll meet you there.”

 

He nodded and filed out of the room with the rest of the students. He'd been weird all day. She remembered when she seen him that morning, his eyes blood shot and haunted looking. Even Naruto had noticed, but every time they asked him if he was ok, his response was: “I didn't sleep well last night.”

 

Sighing, she went to her locker, tossed in her morning books and pulled out two more along with her lunchbox. She was careful when she went to stairwell, making sure that there weren't any teachers looking before opening the door and darting inside. The stairway was dark and she waited for her eyes to adjust to it before making the attempt to climb the stairs. When she was at the top, she readjusted her things before opening the door.

 

It was cold on the roof.

 

Sakura cursed herself for not thinking a head enough to bring her jacket with her. She spotted Gaara easily and walked over to him and sat down with him on a small bench someone had brought up ages ago. He was looking over the edge the building at the empty sports field below them. She looked closely at his face and kept noticing how tired his eyes looked. Not sure what do to, she scooted closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. A could wind blew, making her shiver and rub her upper arms. Gaara sighed and shifted so she had to move. He worked his arm out of his jacket and then pulled her close. She grabbed the part of the jacket he had worked out of and wrapped it around her.  It and his body heat fought off the small chills that the wind brought.

 

“I didn't think you're jacket was so big.” She said after a long silence

 

“It was my brother's. He has big shoulders.”

 

“Are you going to tell me what's wrong?” She asked, looking up at him.

 

He turned his head to face her. “Can't I just sit with you like this?”

 

“Yes… it's just… I'm worried.”

He gave her that small smile with his eyes again… and she noticed how close their faces where. Had they ever been this close before? Her eyes moved about his face, looking at his eyes, his hair, the tattoo, and then to his lips. She had unknowingly leaned closer to him, her head turned up slightly to his. Gaara suddenly tensed up, which made her realize what she was doing. Feeling a little hurt, Sakura lowered her eyes and pulled away… only to have his arm tighten around her.

 

“No… don't…” His voice was soft, almost a whisper. A hand lightly touched her face, turning her gently back to him. They stared at each other for a moment before he lowered his head to press his lips to hers. It was a small and awkward kiss, since neither of them was sure how to go about it. When they parted, Sakura repositioned herself and kissed him again with her arms wrapped around his neck and his arms around her. His mouth moving over hers made her stomach do flip-flops and caused her to make small mewing sounds.

 

When they pulled away that time, Gaara nuzzled his head against hers, murmuring something in her ear that she couldn't make out. They were still holding each other close and Sakura felt a little giddy.

 

“Hm?”

 

“I needed that.” Gaara said again into her neck, kissing a small trail down to where it met her shoulder; making Sakura's toes curl. He moved his head up to kiss her again, but stopped when her stomach let out a loud rumbling protest to the lack of food it was getting. Sakura's face flushed the same color as her favorite shirt and she ducked her head from him.

 

“Sorry.”

 

He kissed her forehead. “Don't be.”

 

AN:

 

More mush for all!!

 

For those of you that haven't seen too far into the manga of Naruto, Karin is an actual char much later on in the story. She's currently following Sasuke everywhere and keeps trying to get alone with him.