I run until my legs give out beneath me. I collapse onto the hard ground, tears blurring my already poor vision. The light of the moon barely offers any details of my surroundings.
I am lost.
In more ways than one.
How could they do this to me? How could they lie for twelve years? What kind of love is that? False love. It was never real. For twelve years, I was made to believe I had a loving family who would never keep things from me, who would never do anything to hurt me.
And now I know the truth.
What they thought of as keeping me safe has given me the greatest emotional wound I have ever suffered. I am not Akari Kita. She died the moment I asked the question, "Who is my father?"
Now, I don't know who I am, who I was. I don't know anymore.
I pull myself up only enough to lean back against a building, my knees up to my chest, my arms wrapped around my legs. I cry into my knees, feeling hollow and alone.
***
TEMARI
"Kankuro, have you seen Gaara?" I ask, becoming anxious. My little brother was in his room not ten minutes ago. Now the room is empty, the window thrown open.
Kankuro pokes his head around the door, squinting at the open window. "He wouldn't..." he starts. But we know he would. Gaara doesn't care about our Village's plan. He only wants to satisfy his lust for blood.
"Should we go after him?" I ask, turning to fully face my brother. He rubs his chin, careful not to smudge any of his purple face-paint. "We'd just be putting ourselves in danger," he replies with a sigh. I know he's right. But I can't help thinking about Akari, still in the hospital. She was so weak the last time I saw her, just a few days ago. And now Gaara seems to have this special interest in her that rivals that of the interest he has in Sasuke Uchiha. What if he goes after her...?
"Don't tell Baki," Kankuro instructs, pulling me from my thoughts. "He'll only get mad at us for not watching Gaara better."
I sigh. "You're right, and I won't. I don't feel like being yelled at right now."
I cross the room to Gaara's window, staring out into the darkened night. The moon was full during the second Exam; it'll be full the night before the finals begin. Gaara's always so much worse during the full moon. It's like the Sand Spirit inside him somehow weakens the seal's hold on him during that time, and Gaara nearly always goes on a rampage. If he doesn't kill at least a few people, he turns on us, his family.
I shudder, remembering the last time it happened. If Father hadn't shown up...
I rest my arms on the windowsill, leaning out slightly. The cool night air feels good after my training this afternoon. It wasn't much; just going through my Wind Style Jutsu to sharpen my skills.
I have to say, I like Konoha. It's never really hot, despite it being in the Land of Fire, and the nights aren't bitter cold like they are at home. If we weren't here for just a ridiculous purpose, I could actually enjoy my time here. Though talking with Akari always seems to make me feel better, even if I feel twice as guilty afterwards. What would she think of me if I told her? She's already said she doesn't trust me. Has that changed? And if so, will it change again when she finds out my real reason for participating in the Chunin Exams?
I sigh again as Kankuro comes to stand beside me. "Why are you in such a bad mood?" he questions, leaning his back against the sill. "I just don't understand why we have to carry out this mission," I say, and he rolls his eyes. "Because the Kazekage ordered us to, duh," Kankuro says cheekily, making me want to smack him with my fan.
"That's not what I meant, and you know it," I mutter, turning away from him. "The Leaf Village hasn't done anything to us. Why are we doing this?"
"You know why," Kankuro sighs. "We'll die out if we don't do this."
"Isn't there any other way?" I question. "Is this really our only option--?"
A soft sound outside distracts me, making me break off my sentence. I lean farther out the window, straining to catch it again.
"What is it?" Kankuro asks. I hold up my hand, telling him to be quiet.
There it is again.
It sounds like... like a girl crying.
"Oh great," Kankuro mutters, meaning he's heard it now too. "We've got a sobbing brat outside our hotel."
I glare at him before leaping out the window. He follows me, probably excited about the idea of scaring some poor, defenseless girl.
I turn the corner and find a smaller girl hugging her knees, crying her eyes out, the sound muffled by the fact that her face is pressed against her knees. She looks up as we approach, her brown eyes rimmed with red from crying.
I suck in a sharp breath. "Akari?"
She wipes her eyes with the back of her hand, sniffling. "Temari?" she says, her voice rough and scratchy from the force of her crying. "Kankuro? What... what are you two doing here?"
Kankuro jerks a thumb at the building beside us. "This is our hotel," he says.
Akari laughs weakly; it sounds forced. "Sorry, I didn't know," she says. "I didn't mean to disturb you guys." She slowly gets to her feet, wiping dirt of her front and her back. Did she fall on the way here? "I'll just leave. Again, I'm really sorry."
I grab her wrist as she tries to walk past me, frowning at her. "What's wrong?" I ask. She shakes her head. "It's nothing," she insists. But from the look in her eyes, I can tell it's anything but. I've never seen her cry like this. What could've happened to her?
"Hey, brat," Kankuro says, walking up to Akari. "It's pretty obvious you're lying. So spill it already. What's got you so damn upset?"
I blink at Kankuro, confused as to why he even cares. He doesn't like Akari. He made that clear when I wanted to help her and her teammates during the second Exam.
"I-I swear, it's really nothing," Akari chokes out, hugging herself, her eyes on her sandals. "I just... I just got some bad news."
Kankuro and I exhange a look, and I'm shocked to see the sympathy in his eyes. I know for a fact he hates kids. He's never once shown sympathy towards someone as young as Akari before, even though he's only a few years older than her. What's gotten into him?
"Akari, you're not leaving until you tell us what's wrong," I say firmly. She looks up at me, fresh tears clouding her pretty brown eyes. "I don't know who I am anymore," she says softly, so low I can barely here her. And then, she breaks down, flinging herself at me. Pushing past my surprise, I wrap my arms around her comfortingly, looking at Kankuro over her head since she's several inches shorter than me, almost the same height as Gaara.
He shrugs helplessly, lifting his arms slightly. He doesn't know what to do either, then. Great, this should go over well.
"What do you mean?" I ask Akari gently, still holding her tightly. Her head against my shoulder, she says, "I... I found out... that I... that I have no family."
This doesn't help me. I've met her brother, Masaki. He seemed to have a rather obvious crush on me even though I never spoke to him once. What's she talking about?
"What about your brother?" Kankuro asks, speaking my thoughts for me.
She stiffens in my arms.
I look around, seeing the empty streets. I look back down at Akari sadly. She shouldn't be out here when she's like this. I get Kankuro's attention and nod back towards the hotel. After a moment, he nods back, starting towards the window to unlock the front door for us.
I lead Akari around to the front of the hotel just as Kankuro opens the door, letting us inside. I have Akari sit down and I sit beside her. Kankuro drags a chair over and stradles it, his arms on the back of the chair. I frown at him but say nothing. As long as he doesn't make any rude comments, I don't really care that he's still here.
After a few hiccuping coughs, I manage to get Akari to tell me the whole story. How she was found in the Land of Water and brough to Konoha as an infant, how her mother and brother raised her without ever telling her the truth. She doesn't know anything about her past, or her family, except that they must have the Ice Release kekkei genkai.
That triggers something in my memory, and from the look on Kankuro's face, in his as well.
"Akari," I say softly, breaking into her newest flood of tears. She barely looks up from my shoulder. "I think I know who your family was."
I tell her all I know, everything Baki told Gaara, Kankuro and me.
"The Yuki Clan in the Land of Water?" she repeats, sounding exhausted. Crying can really take it out of a person. Not that I would know much about it.
I nod. "That's what Baki said anyway. He said no one's heard of the Yuki Clan in years, because of what happened to them. He's not even sure if any of them are still alive." I bite my lip, looking at Kankuro again. During this entire thing, he hasn't said a word, which doesn't make any sense to me. But I'm thankful for it nonetheless. "I guess there's at least one Yuki still around."
I realize that wasn't really the best thing to say. It's like that Sasuke, and how his entire Clan was slaughtered, leaving only him and his brother, Itachi, who was the mastermind behind the massacre. And I doubt Akari wants to be reminded about her lack of family.
"There was one other," she says softly, startling both Kankuro and I. "His name was Haku. He was killed in the Land of Waves before though."
"How would you know that, if this is the first time you've heard of the Clan?" Kankuro asks. Akari sniffs again. "Kakashi Hatake told me he and his team took a mission to the Land of Waves. He said they met a boy named Haku who could perform Ice Style Jutsu. He had to be from the Yuki Clan."
Something else is troubling her. I can see it in her dark brown eyes. But I won't press her anymore, not tonight. She seems too tired to talk anymore anyway.
"Akari, would you want me and Kankuro to take you home?"
She shakes her head, slowly sitting up. I release her, but warily. I'm not sure how ok she is right now, and hugs seem to help her, if only slightly. She's nothing like Gaara.
"I can't go home," she says miserably, stifling a yawn. "I don't have one anymore."
She gets to her feet, swaying slightly. "I think I'm going to go ask Shikamaru if I can spend the night at his house," she says, rubbing her eyes tiredly. Then she looks back at me. "Thank you, for listening, and for telling me about my Clan." She flashes a quick, sad smile at Kankuro as well. "You too, Puppet Boy."
He blinks, confused, probably remembering that Akari had been passed out during his match. She laughs a bit at his expression. "Rock Lee told me about the matches I missed," she informs us, before frowning. I can't help but mirror her expression, thinking about the strange boy who's life Gaara nearly ended. I don't feel much sympathy for him; he was stupid enough to take on Gaara in the first place. But it's clear Akari's distaste for Gaara has only grown since learning about his actions against the Lee kid.
Akari takes one step towards our door, and stmbles. Kankuro gets to her before I do, holding her up as she threatens to fall to the floor in exhaustion. "You're too tired to make it anywhere tonight," I say. I glance at Kankuro, who shrugs. "Baki and Gaara won't be happy about it," he says knowingly.
I only really care about Akari right now, so I push the thought of those two finding out to the back of my mind. "Akari," I say. "You're going to stay here for the night, alright?" A confused look crosses her face, before tiredness settles in and she's pulled into a much needed sleep.
Kankuro sighs, picking her up bridal style and heading towards the bedrooms, before pausing. "Well, she's obviously not staying with Gaara," he says. "But we don't have an empty bed besides in his room. What do you want to do?" I sigh deeply, irritated for not having already thought of this. "One of us will have to stay with him," I reply, pinching the bride of my nose.
"Do you want to die, Temari?" he shoots back.
"No," I retort. "But what choice do we have?"
He pauses uneasily. "Maybe Gaara won't kill her?" he suggests.
"Yes, because he's so good at restraint."
"What if Gaara doesn't even come here tonight? Then we won't have to worry about it."
"And what he comes back and crushes Akari before he even mentions her to us?"
"He might just do the same to us!"
I know he's right. He fears Gaara as much as I do, and for good reason. Our little brother will kill us without any hesitation, and the two of us know that.
But Akari... she's afraid of him too, even if she won't admit. When we were in the Forest of Death, I saw how she looked at him after he'd killed those Rain Village Ninja. She hates him, but she's terrified of him. And then, after I'd very poorly healed her and her teammates, she'd tried to act like Gaara'a bloodlust didn't faze her. I saw through it, and so did Kankuro and Gaara.
And Gaara... he acts so strangely when it comes to her. Like he does with Sasuke. And after hearing about her kekkei genkai, he only seemed more excited.
"Wait Temari," Kankuro says, sounding like he's had a very successfyl brainstorm. "Gaara doesn't sleep ever and he usually ends up on the roof at night. His room should be empty, even if he comes back tonight."
"So you're set on her staying in Gaara's room?" I ask, already knowing the answer.
He sighs, holding her tighter. "You know there's a good chance she won't even survive the final round," he says before pushing past me and heading for Gaara's room. I stand there for a minute, too upset to face Akari.
Again, he's right. He's always right.
I follow Kankuro and enter Gaara's room just as he's laying Akari down on the empty bed, well away from Gaara's gently-used one.
"For a brat," Kankuro says, standing up straight, "she's pretty cute when she sleeps." My lips twitch into a smile. "Aw, you getting soft on me, Kankuro?" I ask cheekily, bumping him with my hip. He scowls down at me. "Shut up," he growls. "I'm not the one who was drooling over the Uchiha."
My face goes red and I quickly turn away from Kankuro, very prepared to whack him over the head with my fan. I've done it before, and I know it isn't very pleasant.
"What are the two of you doing in here?"
Kankuro and I both freeze. Then, after what feels like an eternity to me, we both turn around, simultaneously trying to block Gaara's view of Akari.
I don't see any blood on him, which could be good. It may mean he hasn't killed anyone tonight. But he could also have just not gotten any blood on him. It's hard to tell anymore if he's killed some innocent civilian or not.
"Gaara!" I say brightly. Or, at least, I attempt to say it brightly. I'm not sure how it comes out, but it sounds very shaky to my ears. "Where did you go?"
"It's none of your concern," he says darkly.
I swallow nervously, wanting to look back at Akari but knowing it isn't a good idea. If Gaara hasn't noticed her already, I won't give her away. Though, to be honest, it's extremely unlikely she's gone unnoticed for even this long.
Gaara walks up to us.
My heartbeat speeds up, as does Kankuro's; I can hear it pounding against his chest. But Gaara doesn't even spare us a glance; he simply pushes between us and stares down at the sleeping Akari. She's frowning now, her brow furrowed in frustration. "Haku," she murmurs, turning over in her sleep. "Zabuza."
Who is Zabuza? Haku, she said, was the other member of the Yuki Clan that recently died. But Zabuza... she never mentioned him.
"Gaara, we can explain," Kankuro starts, but Gaara cuts him off. "I have no interest in your story. And I don't plan on killing this girl now," he says in his dark voice. "I've already satisfied my hunger for tonight."
Oh crap, he did kill someone then! Please tell me it wasn't that Sasuke! If he did, it'll have ruined everything! Can't he just wait for the final round?
The look on Kankuro's face says he's on the same train of thought. What are we going to tell Baki?
"The Uchiha isn't dead," Gaara says, turning around and heading for his still open window. I manage to hold back my sigh of relief, and Kankuro does the same. Gaara's sand pours from his gourd, swirling around him. When it's gone, so is he.
"The roof," Kankuro says, pointing up. I nod. "You were right," I say, my voice weak from relief. He isn't going to hurt Akari. And even if he means that it's only for tonight, I'll take it. It means she's safe for another night, at least.
I look back at my friend. Her sleep seems even more troubled than before. Is she dreaming? "Will she be alright?" I ask, almost to myself. Kankuro shakes his head. "How am I supposed to know? Kid's got a lot to deal with for being so seemingly ordinary."
"C'mon, let's let her sleep," he says, waving his hand for me to follow as he exits the room. I take one last look at Akari before following him, shutting the door behind me.
Please, Gaara, please. Keep your word and don't hurt her.