It was nearly that time. The time for your destiny to be fulfilled as Saber's barrer. Your 16th birthday. The day you would die. You put your hand on your knee and pushed down to try and stand up but your legs were so wobbly that you just fell back down. You knew this was going to happen since the day Saber picked you but you honestly didn’t expect it to hurt this much. You started to raise yourself up again when your arm was lifted and placed around a neck. You looked at Gaara as he half lifted you up.
“We’re almost there.” He said helping you continue walking down the path.
“I can walk by myself.” You said knowing full well that you really couldn’t. Your legs would instantly fall out from underneath you if he let go. He didn’t acknowledge what you said and just continued on in silence.
~Later~
Gaara helped you slowly make your way up the stairs, gradually step by step until we landed on the threshold of the sand sibs apartment. He took a key out of his pocket and unlocked the door.
“Go ahead.” He said pushing it open for you. You used the wall as support to get into the room as Gaara walked in behind you.
“Gaara? Is that you?” The blonde girl asked walking into the living room to see the two of you. “Oh, hello.” She said looking at you. A trickle of blood slipped from the corner of your mouth and she looked at you surprised. “What happened to you?” She asked raising an eyebrow and then looking passed you at Gaara.
“Long story.” You said leaning the side of your body against the wall.
“I’ve got time.” She said shrugging.
“I don’t.” You pushed off the wall and nearly fell to your knees before grabbing onto the back of the couch. “Where’s your phone?” You asked. She gestured to the corner table where you seen a wireless phone. “Thanks.” You said slowly approaching it.
“Hey Temari! I’m really hungry! When are you going to make something to eat, huh?” The third sand sib said walking into the room. He stopped short and blinked as he looked at you. “Oh. It’s you.” He said looking bored.
“Good to see you again too.” You said picking up the phone and dialing the phone number for your hotel room.
“The name’s Kankuro.” The third sand sib said and you briefly glanced at him.
“Good for you.” You said and then continued to ignore his presence. The phone rang three then four times and you sighed and hung up the phone. “Okay then.” You dialed Kakashi’s house number that you got off Naruto earlier. You figured that you might have to call him. The phone rang twice before it was answered.
“Hello.” Kakashi said through the earpiece.
“Hey Kakashi. It’s Adira.”
“Oh, hey Adira. How did you get this number?”
“Isn’t it amazing how much information you can get out of Naruto?”
“Okay.”
“Is Shiyuri there?”
“Yeah, Shiyuri’s here.”
“Can I talk to her?”
“Okay.”
“Adira, are you okay?” Gaara asked as you started to fall over. You nodded as he came to your side, ready to catch you if you started to fall again.
“Who’s that in the background?” Kakashi asked.
“What? Oh, no one.” You said returning your attention back to the phone.
“No one? It sounds like that one sand ninja.”
“Never mind, I’ll talk to Shiyuri later.” You said and hung up the phone cutting Kakashi off midsentence. You put the phone back on the charger and lost your balance falling over. Two sets of arms were grabbing you as you fell but all you could really feel was a blinding pain coursing through your body. You heard your name being called by multiple voices but it was too muffled for you to care. Then it was all dark.
~Next Morning~
You shot up in bed and looked around you. You were in an unfamiliar room and it was really bright. You suddenly were aware of a pain in your gut and you grimaced looking down. Your entire chest and gut were wrapped in bandages and you were wearing a pair of shorts that you didn’t recognize. You looked around in hopes of finding a clock. There was a digital clock on the nightstand table. It read 10 am.
“Shit.” You said flipping your covers off and you started looking for your clothes. Just as you dropped to the floor and looked under the bed, the door was opened and Temari walked in.
“Oh, you’re up. You shouldn’t be pushing yourself too hard.” She said starting to walk over to you.
“Look, I don’t have time for this. I have to get going. Where is my stuff?”
“Out in the living room. I was going to wash the blood out of your clothes.” She added as you bolted passed her. You ran down the hall grimacing the whole way with every step you took. You took a left and seen Gaara and Kankuro sitting on the couch. As you came into the room, they both stood up, looked at you, and both blushed lightly. You went to the chair beside the couch and grabbed your clothes.
“Adira?” Gaara asked walking towards you. “What are you doing?”
“I have to go.” You said tugging your kimono down over your head. The three of them watched you slip your head through the hole and shake your hair out of it. It was weird getting changed in front of two boys and a girl that you hardly knew. You finished getting changed and then darted to the door and opened it only to have sand create a barricade blocking your path. You blinked surprised and then looked back at Gaara. “Why?” You asked almost with a pout. You didn’t understand why he wouldn’t let you leave.
“You think after what happened to you last night, you can just leave? You’ll get yourself killed out there the way your luck is going.” He stated and you looked over your shoulder back at the wall. You blinked a bit and figured would play a little game and see if your trickery could get you outside. You could outrun these three no sweat. You turned back to Gaara and put the most seductive expression on your face that you could manage. You weren’t really the kind of person to plaster this kind of look on your face. It was something you had watched Shiyuri do many times.
“You know, you’re really hot when you’re overprotective.” You said with a small smirk on your face. “It’s such a turn on.” You said quickly raising your eyebrows at him. The sand started to quiver a bit behind you and you really wished Kankuro and Temari weren’t there right then. Gaara’s blush deepened and he blinked surprised. “A guy who can really take control is so sexy.” You said and the sand dropped from behind you and you jumped backwards through the hole that was now open for you. “Sorry, Gaara. I hate to be a trickster to you.” You called. “But I didn’t lie about all of it.” You added and then turned and started sprinting. You were surprised. You had been slowed down by a lot. This whole Saber issue was causing you a ridiculously large amount of pain and you felt like you were carrying at least triple your weight on your back.
“You’re slower.” Gaara’s cool voice said beside you and you skidded to a stop surprised. He stopped with you and just stared at you with lightly pinked cheeks. “You couldn’t even outrun an attacker if you had to.” He added and you put your hands on your hips.
“Are you saying that I’m off my game?” You asked with irritation leaking through your words.
“I think it goes without saying.” Gaara said coolly. You lost your patience. You punched at him but rather than sand stopping your fist, Gaara himself grabbed it. “Much slower Adira.” He said and your irritation level spiked. You threw your other fist at him only to get caught by his other fist. You cursed under your breath and quickly jutted your foot out and knocked his feet out from underneath him causing him to let go of you. He looked up at you on the ground and blinked.
“I might be slower than usual but I’m still tough enough to beat you.” You said and then continued running wondering on if he would follow you or if he would go back to his hotel……Not that you cared or anything.
~Later~
“Shiyuri!” You called as you ran into your hotel room. “Are you home? Shiyuri?” You ran into the kitchen and found her sitting on the counter top eating a bowl of ramen with noodles hanging out of her mouth as she had been caught sneaking insta-ramen. She blinked surprised and slurped the noodles into her mouth.
“What took you so long?” She asked and you cocked your head to the side confused. She looked passed you and you turned to see Gaara leaning against the door frame into the kitchen. He had beaten you here.
“You got here before me?” You asked surprised and he just nodded.
“Gotta tell ya,” Shiyuri started and you turned back to her. “Getting here at 9 this morning only to find that you haven’t been home all night, and then a sand ninja knocks on the door and says that you were at his house all night and are running home right now, is not exactly what I expected to come home to after staying at Kakashi’s.” She said taking another slurp of ramen.
“Yeah, cause I was totally expecting you to be at Kakashi’s last night. WHICH stands to prove, by you stating you got here at 9 this morning and saying ‘after staying at Kakashi’s’, that you spent the night at his place.” You said feeling like a brainiac though it really wasn't that great of an accomplishment.
“You have no proof of that.”
“You just said it!” There was a long silence.
“Shut up.” She said and resumed eating her noodles. You sighed and put your fingers to your forehead.
“Anyways,” You started. “Where’s Kakashi now?”
“At his house. I snuck out this morning and didn’t feel like dragging him along with me. He just gets in the way sometimes.” You blinked a bit and then turned back to Gaara.
“How did you know where I was staying?” You asked suspiciously raising an eyebrow at him. He blinked a bit and crossed his arms.
“Lucky guess.” He said and looked away from you.
“Riiiiight.” You said and started walking out of the room. “Can I talk to you for a minute?” You asked and he started to follow you. You pushed your hand on his chest to stop him and he looked surprised. You were standing abnormally close together. But then again was there anything really normal in your life? “Not you.” You said and then looked at Shiyuri. “You. Now. Alone.” You turned to start to leave and heard her protest. “Shiyuri!” You said urgently sparking her interest. “It’s urgent. Get over here now. We gotta talk.” You said and left the room. You heard Shiyuri jump off the counter and follow behind you as you walked into one of the rooms in the hotel. You closed the door behind her and she turned to you with a bored expression.
“I swear if you dragged me in here and away from my food to talk about boys, I’m not gonna be impressed.” She said and the look on your face made her cock her head to the side. “What’s the matter?” She asked and you crossed your arms leaning against the door.
“It’s starting.” You said and she blinked.
“What’s starting?”
“Saber’s Soul Compression.” You said looking away from her at the window with a distant look in your eyes. Shiyuri’s expression instantly changed to concern.
“How long do you have?” She asked hesitantly reaching for you. Everyone was hesitant about touching you. It was like they thought you would break as soon as you felt some form of human contact and comfort. You never really knew yourself if it would happen.
“I don’t know. They said it really starts to affect when you hit your 16th birthday. But the jutsu that Brawn used on me is supposed to slow it down so I’m going to go to her in a bit and see what she can do about it.” You said and looked back to her. Her eyes were large chibi eyes and were quivering and you jumped back in a surprised chibi expression. “Wha-What’s the matter??” You asked frantically, waving your hands back and forth in front of you. Her lip quivered and she started crying full out.
“What do you think is the matter?!” She screeched as she started wiping her eyes with her chibi hands.
“Why are YOU crying?! I’m the one that’s dying!” You said desperately trying to calm her down. You should’ve picked a different choice of words because saying you were dying just made her cry harder.
“You’re dying?” Gaara’s voice asked and you spun around to see him standing in the now open doorway staring at you very concerned. You blinked and took a step back.
“Why were you listening?” You asked angrily. He looked hurt and took a step back. His eyes were soft and sympathetic and it was pissing you off. “It has nothing to do with you! You had no right listening in on my conversation!” You yelled as you stormed passed him.
“Wait! Adira! Where are you going?” Shiyuri asked through her sobs as she followed behind you.
“Out!” You said and slammed the door behind you. Who the hell did he think he was?? Listening in on a conversation that has absolutely nothing to do with him. He barely even knew you and he was skating on thin ice to begin with. ‘Ugh! The nerve of that guy!’ You thought walking down the street. You had to do something to calm your mind and especially your temper. You had to put your anger at ease or risk killing something or someone. Damn your temper.
~Later~
“Are you ready?” Shikamaru asked looking at you with this little gleam to his eyes. You slowly nodded.
“I’m ready.” You said and he stared at you for a second.
“We don’t have to if you aren’t ready.” He said and you gave him a look.
“It’s not that hard. I think I can handle it.”
“I’m just saying, experience is key and you have none.”
“Shut up. I have to do it to gain experience.”
“Yeah, but only if you think you’re ready. Just talking about isn’t enough. You have to know what you’re doing or it’s just going to be disappointing for both of us.” You pretty much glared at him. “Maybe I should go over where everything goes again.” He continued and you nearly slapped him.
“I know where everything goes! I’m not retarded!” You said blushing irritated.
“Alright. Let’s begin then.” Shikamaru said and reached down and you followed his hand with your eyes. You were sitting across from him looking down at a Shogi set. You had never even heard of this game before let alone learned how to play it. Shikamaru said this would be a good way to calm yourself down. You didn’t think he knew you very well yet. He hadn’t learned how competitive you were yet. He moved his first piece and you were already lost. Stupid game. It hardly took any time for you to become completely confused and so lost that it just wasn’t worth it anymore. Apparently he was beating you. “You’re losing.” Shikamaru said plainly. Then you got mad.
“You know what?!” You asked angrily and flipped the shogi set. “It’s a stupid game and not worth my time!” You said and sat down in a huff. Shikamaru just stared at the toppled, upside down set.
“That was kinda unnecessary. What a drag.” He said and started to stand up.
“Where are you going?” You asked and he held his hand out to you.
“Let’s go get some ramen or something. I don’t want to be in this house anymore and we need something to do to keep your mind at ease.” He said and you took his hand as he helped you up. You hadn’t explained to him why you were mad except for the part about a guy listening in to a conversation that didn’t concern him. You didn’t want to get into details and you didn’t think he really cared that you didn’t. You made your way down the hall and out of the house walking towards Ichiraku Ramen. You had a bad feeling that you were going to run into Gaara or Shiyuri or someone else that would make you feel awkward. Worst part about that: you really cared what Gaara would think if he seen you and Shikamaru together. Stupid boys.
~Shiyuri’s POV~
You walked up the path to Kakashi’s house and stood on the doorstep. You had a feeling this was going to be really awkward. It was kind of to be expected. After all, you did have a hot make out session and then slept beside each other and then you woke up in the morning and booked it out of there. You shrugged. Oh well. You raised your hand up to knock on the door only to be surprised by the door opening just before you could knock, and Kakashi emerged running. He seen you and tried to stop but he had no grip on the ground and slid right into you. Next thing you knew, you were laying in a heap on the ground with Kakashi mostly on top of you.
“Shiyuri!” Kakashi exclaimed sitting up. “What are you doing here?” He asked and you shrugged lightly trying to wiggle out from beneath his weight.
“I thought I’d drop by and see what you’re up to.” You stated smiling cutely. He looked down at you and then up and then back down to you.
“Well, the chunin exams’ first exam is starting in a couple of hours and I forgot to tell my team so I have to get them and bring them over to where it’s being held.” Kakashi said getting off you and helping you up.
“You didn’t tell your team?!” You exclaimed and he nodded guiltily. You punched him in the shoulder and he grabbed it surprised. “You idiot.”
“It’s on my To Do List!” Kakashi said and grabbed your wrist dragging you away from his house off into the village to seek out his team. He was an interesting sensei.
~Adira’s POV~
“Is there a reason we are hiding?” Shikamaru asked as you peeked around the corner. You put your hand on the wall and cautiously looked around. “Adira.” He continued and you spun around putting a finger to his lips.
“Shhh.” You said plainly and then turned back around scanning the street again. You heard Shikamaru sigh as he leaned against the wall beside you.
“Girls are so troublesome.” He said crossing his arms. He looked at you in the corner of his eye and watched your expression stay the same. ‘She’s pretty focused.’ He thought and you lightly hit your head off the wall several times. “What’s the matter now?” He asked.
“Kankuro and Temari are still standing in front of Ichiraku Ramen.” You said plainly.
“So?”
“So, I don’t want them to see me.”
“Why?”
“Because I ran out on them this morning.”
“Why?”
“Because I was joking around with Gaara.”
“Why?”
“Because I wanted to leave.”
“Why?
“Because....well, I don’t know.”
“Why?”
“BECAUSE!” You said freaking out a bit spinning around to him. “God, you ask a lot of questions!” You peeked back around the corner and you heard Shikamaru sigh.
“Are you embarrassed to be seen with me?” He asked and you looked at him quickly.
“Excuse me?”
“Are you embarrassed to be seen with me?” He repeated.
“I know what you said! Why would you think that?” You asked and he gave you this bored look.
“We have been hiding in this alley for half an hour cause you’re waiting for these two sand ninja to leave.” He said and you sighed. He was right, it sounded like you embarrassed to be seen with him. There was a brief silence between the two of you as you stared at each other and then you hit him over the head aggressively. “Ow! What did you do that for?!” He asked holding his head.
“Idiot.” You mumbled and rolled your eyes. “You don’t understand. Something is going on between me and them and I don’t want to deal with it right now.” You stated and sighed. “How bout we go somewhere else? I don’t need ramen that bad.” Shikamaru smiled a bit and nodded.
“Sure, how bout the Dango shop?” He asked.
“The sweet dumpling place?” You asked and he nodded again. “Alright, shall we?” You asked gesturing for Shikamaru to lead the way. You started walking away to wherever the dumpling place was when you ran into Mikana, Brawn, Shiyuri and Naruto’s team (including Kakashi). “What are you guys doing together?” You asked surprised by their sudden appearance. Shiyuri leaned forwards out of breath. She had probably been running a lot. She wasn’t the kind of ninja to get tired very easily.
“The Chunin Exams. They’re starting soon. We have to get over to the ninja academy before they start or we’ll miss out and pretty much forfeit.” Shiyuri said and you blinked. Forfeit? Like hell you would.
“Let’s go!” You said and you all ran off towards the ninja academy with Kakashi leading the stampede. As you ran passed the ramen shop, you glanced in to see the three sand sibs sitting eating ramen. Had Gaara been with them the whole time? You skidded to a stop as everyone else did the same.
“Adira? What are you doing?” Shiyuri asked and you glanced at them and back to the sand sibs. You would feel so guilty if you just ran by and pretended you hadn’t seen them. You couldn’t do that to them even though it would probably get rid of your biggest competition.
“Damn it.” You mumbled. “You go on ahead. I have to do something first.” You said and Shiyuri put her hands into fists and started to yell at you.
“This is no time to be eating Adira!” She shrieked and you rolled your eyes.
“I’m not eating. Something else I have to do.” You said looking back to her. She looked into the ramen shop and seen the sand sibs. Then she smirked. ‘Crap.’ You thought. ‘This won’t be pretty.’ You narrowed your eyes at her and she wiggled her eyebrows up and down a couple times at you.
“Ohhhhhhh, I see.” She said sneakily. She smiled deviously and your eyes turned to slits.
“It’s not like that.” You said.
“Sure sure.”
“It’s not...like that.” You repeated and then walked into the ramen shop as they continued on their way. Gaara was the first one to see you. He stood up almost instantly and the look you gave him suggested that he shouldn't say anything about the conversation he overheard earlier. “We gotta get going.” You said and Gaara looked at you confused.
“We?” He asked. “We, you and me?”
“No, we as in all of us.” You said but it sounded like you were being sarcastic. You hadn’t meant for it to come off that way. “The Chunin Exams are starting soon and if we aren’t there on time we are forced to forfeit the competition. I don’t know about you guys but I am far too competitive to just not show up and quit before it even begins. So either get up and get moving or tell me if you’re staying here so I can be on my way.” You said. Temari and Kankuro quickly got up and you all started running in the direction that the others had gone in. That’s when you remembered that you had no idea where the Ninja Academy was. ‘Crap.’ You thought.
...::: To Be Continued :::...