Blood In The Sand

The announcer, however, definitely knew the show must go on. It seemed like nothing could stop the exams. It was strange, however, that the teams were up against one another… "Tsukiyomi Akagari and Eiji Yoru." Su could hear the tremor in his voice and the sound of a hand slapping against metal, shoes scraping against the ground below. She waited for the other to join them, for the person who was supposed to fight to show up, but they were taking quite a while.

She flinched as the sound of a snap resounded in her left ear. "Hey, Tsukiyomi, what are you waiting for?" Suno nudged Su. She'd become familiar to his voice since he talked so much. The white-haired Genin rubbed her ear, giving him a frown.

"Sorry, I was distracted…" It was true, she'd forgotten in all of the excitement. All she could do was listen, and listen she had, to the point where she'd tuned out everything and everyone else. They were all too noisy… that Lee person had been put out of commission, making the arena a much more pleasurable place.

She easily hoisted herself over the railing, landing before her opponent softly- softer than he had. She hadn't been overly concerned about the threat of grievous bodily harm but now she was a little on the edge and wary of her opponent after listening to the fight and the brutality Gaara had shown against Lee. Out of respect, she bowed to her opponent right before the announcer gave the go-ahead to begin the fight.

She was barely able to react as Eiji launched forward a fraction of a second after the starting sound. She deftly turned her head to the side, her body arching with her movement pattern as she bounced out of his path. How intriguing; he wasn't like the other Yoru. There was no boasting, no introductions. Her fingertips pressed to the ground before she did from her crouched position.

Eiji, though he hadn't landed a hit, refused to slow his movements. He performed a few hand signs, pressing his own hands to the arena floor as well as his voice resounded, clear as a bell to Su. "Earth Release: Stone Bracers." Su made a note to herself not to get hit as she pulled a kunai from her sash, holding it in a backhand grip. The effect was moderately creepy, seemingly soulless black eyes locked onto the boy she was fighting with. Her head tilted and anyone would think she was analyzing her opponent. There hadn't been enough blows exchanged for her to size him up, though.

She remained on the defensive, grimacing as she was forced to block a heavy kick that sent her skidding back a few feet. Her fingers twitched, eyebrows drew together, her displeasure prominent on her face as the blows continued to rain down and she was left just enough wiggle room to avoid the majority of the hits narrowly despite the weight he put behind them.

She took a heavy blow to the chest, having twisted her body to avoid him hitting to the left of her lower abdomen, even if she did have a band of protective material there. She wasn't willing to risk damage to that area, so she'd take the hit. The reverberations from his blows, however, led her to stumble against the far wall, a look of panic flickering across her face. She could hear Suno's voice filled her ears, annoyingly enough. "Hey! You can do it! Don't let that Yoru boss you around!"

She pressed her left hand back against the cold wall, breathing a little harder. Her kunai laid across the floor where he had knocked it from her grasp. She shook out her free hand, tensing up as his footing shifted. Both of her hands twitched.

Eiji smirked, flexing his fingers. "I expected more looking at you, but I guess it can't be helped that you're useless." He was confident, arrogantly so. Underestimating her capabilities truly marked the differences between them, especially since he was judging by eyes along. If only he paid more attention.

She pushed off of the wall, sprinting at him. His smirk only grew as he saw it as a futile resistance; he sprinted to meet her, her reckless charge giving him more confidence. His fist drew back, snapping forward in a direct collision course with the side of her head… but she dropped, sliding in between his legs.

Anyone paying attention to the fight would see two of her fingers touching the sides of the soles of his shoes as she moved through, but so light and quick it could've just been attributed to the positioning between them. Whatever it had been, however, it didn't seem like Eiji noticed as he moved to turn and follow after her, his rotation went too far and he ended up clumsily tripping over his own feet.

There was a grunt of surprise as Su retrieved her Kunai, looking at him as he stood. His anger was palpable as she began to taunt him. "I expected more… looking at you?" She tapped her cheek with the fingers on her other hand, before beckoning him forward, to which he responded by pushing himself up brusquely.

The fingers of her right hand twitched again, minutely, only noticeable if someone had been paying attention. Perhaps someone would've caught a pattern by now. Her mannerisms seemed to all be methodical and planned, her supposed clumsiness at the start of the fight coming into question via Neji…

Still, Eiji was getting annoyed. She was dragging the fight out. He laughed, cracking his knuckles. "Are you going to do anything besides run? Or is that all you know?" Her response was to whip the kunai in her hand at his face, although he blocked it with his earth-clad arm. It stuck with a dull thud and Su backed up quickly, her eyes widening at the strength of his bracers.

He grinned, unrelenting, as he followed her retreat with a rush that held all the confidence of a finishing blow. He was so sure of himself, his slip-ups not affecting his attack. Su seemed to be panicking, throwing her arms up in an attempt to block the attack, but it never hit, his fist stopping an inch before she upheld hands.

"W...what…?" Eiji attempted to pull back his hand but found it stuck, suspended in midair- held there by some invisible something. Su peeked over her hands, a toying smile playing across her face.

"You think I'd lose to you…?" She raised her left hand, upwards slightly, flipping it over and pulling it back down to the ground as she yanked the boy off of the ground. "You hit hard, but I don't think you noticed you weren't hitting as hard as you thought you were…" She smiled as he started thrashing, but every explosive and angry movement came out as muted, only entangling him in her trap even further. Finally, she curled up the fingers of her right hand and a mass of thin and nearly invisible threads began to thicken and appear as they layered on top of each other. They glinted, pulling taut. She tsk'd, restricting his movements further, pulling closed the loops and snares he'd inadvertently tangled himself in throughout their dance of dodging and blocks.

She had him suspended between the floor and the roof, his arms bound to his chest. "It's over."

He couldn't move even an inch as she stepped away, her head looking in another direction… away from the announcer. The room was a bit… awkwardly silent. "Tsukiyomi Akagari… wins." Su nodded to herself, reassuringly, as she walked away.

Oh, she almost forgot. She raised her hands, the threads all going slack as Eiji slammed into the ground. "Before you judge your opponent… look closer next time. That's what you have eyes for, yes?"

The way back to the Hidden Leaf was an awkward ordeal. Rena was staying away from Gaara. Every time he attempted to get closer to her, somehow she escaped his grasp. It was beginning to irritate him that she would rather talk to Kankuro than him, but what was worse was that she was speaking to that boy named Ikari. The one who shared her last name. He was too friendly with her, although he remained an arm's length away.

His eyes narrowed as he picked up the pace, trying to get in between the two. It seemed that Rena broke away from Ikari and suddenly ran ahead, finding something else interesting. Was she doing this purposely? He'd punish her viciously.

Then, along with the already added insult to injury, she began conversing with a member of the Hidden Leaf. Didn't she know their mission? Or had she been unknowingly following them around the whole time, thinking that there was some chance she'd become a chuunin from all of this? Laughable. She could barely defend herself in his eyes. She needed him, his protection.

As she began to stray from the group, lagging behind due to how late it was getting, Gaara saw his chance. Bursting forward, he grabbed her, slapping a hand over her mouth and dragging her into the bushes. Kankuro turned around, excited to invite Rena to the little get-together Sansa and Baki had arranged for the group. "Huh?" He looked around. For the most part, the group was solemn. The missing shinobi were injured or dead, transported to the hospital right away. The one remaining Yoru Genin and her jonin were some ways away from the group, while most of the more rambunctious winners from the leaf were cheering and whooping, celebrating. He couldn't find her among them. Maybe she got tired of all the noise and left? Gaara was gone, too…

Rena struggled against the grasp of her kidnapper, anything to be free. Not now, not like this. She had reached out to the group, begging for anyone to turn around and help her. Still, they walked, even as she was overpowered and dragged into the woods.

Let me go! Let me go! Stop, no! I have to get back to Gaara…!

Tears streamed down her face at the painful memories that she kept locked within her. She began to sob, only for her to be released as she collapsed to the floor and fell into nothing more than a begging mess. "Please! Please don't take me from Gaara again! He needs me. He needs me! Please… anything is fine… take all of my organs if you need to, cut me open again, just let me stay! Let me stay with him!" Her shaking shoulders were all that he could see. Her hair was viciously messy, but she made no move to try and pick it up and hold it above the dirt. Her hands covered her eyes, her cries of emotional agony heard only by him. He began to realize, that, perhaps, nothing was as it seemed. She crawled away from him, settling in the crook of a tree, curling up and sobbing.

He took a step toward her, raising his hand. Everything in him was telling him to stop, to stay away, that she abandoned him, but this… this wasn't abandonment. It didn't sound like a choice. He wanted to reach out, touch her, embrace her. Perhaps the world didn't need to be as it was, so infinitely lonely. Perhaps, even though the rest of the world abandoned him, he'd been pushing away the only person that didn't.

The clouds above parted. The sun had set and the moon had taken its place. Light shined on the clearing, but Gaara flipped his palms upward, sand bursting from the ground and taking shape and form of a dome. They were basked in absolute darkness, neither speaking, the only sound her sobs. "Do you fear me?"

There was nothing but silence for a moment. "G-Gaara…?"

"Is that why you've been avoiding me? Do you fear me?"

She stopped. She was quiet. He didn't like the answer he was getting. "Yes… I fear you." His heart fell. Perhaps he had been wrong. He rose his hand. In the end, getting rid of her was all he could do. Love for others wasn't him. "I fear that you're going to leave me behind." He took pause, eyes widening. "I'm so scared that one day, I'm going to wake up and I won't see your face. I'll just be trapped in some compound, nothing but four dirt walls, I fear that someday I might never see you again. I fear that you're so far away that I can't reach you, that every step I take to understanding you, you take a step back. I'm scared I'll never be as strong as you or as smart as you, or that someday I might lose you. That someday you might die and I'll never see you again."

Foolish girl. He would never die. Of course, he was stronger than her. All of these fears… everything. "You're an idiot."

"Huh?"

"You belong to me. You said so yourself. Do you think I'd let you leave me that easily? Anyone who desires to take you from me will die. I will hunt you down to the ends of the earth if need be. You are mine, my object, mine to decide what to do with." He walked toward her, crouching down in front of her, their eyes had adjusted to the darkness, Staring directly at each other, they got closer.

Gaara reignited the fire. It was no longer just a fever, meant to be shaken off- it was all-consuming, devouring everything around them. It enveloped them both, the heat almost unbearable as he kissed her, his emotions rising. He was once again embraced by something other than darkness and even though the world around them was black, he could feel color within him.

Rena, hesitatingly raising her hand to cup his cheek as she pulled away, felt his hand on her wrist. More gentle than it ever had been before. He still leaned in for more, much to her surprise, reluctant to pull away from her lips. "I think that perhaps… for the first time in a long time…" He began, but a jolt ran through him. He couldn't say those words. Even if it meant hurting Rena, to say those words in a world where there was nothing but darkness and loneliness, he'd have to give up everything he believed in. "Maybe I don't want to kill you just yet." He said, his hand sliding from her wrist. Rena realized that perhaps he would have said something more, but the walls he had created for himself were still standing strong. She knew cracks were forming in the defense that surrounded his heart and that if she just kept trying, perhaps the boy she loved was truly in there.

"Gaara…" Rena said, her head shifting as she glanced around his room. There was nothing in it, not even a tatami. Gaara sat on the floor, leaning against the wall, closing his eyes. "There's nothing in here."

"I don't need anything." He stared blankly. "I don't sleep most of the time."

There was no door for his closet and a few wooden floorboards were missing as if they had been pried from the rest. All that was there was a rug, one that was positioned against the wall- the one he sat on. "But surely sleep in a bed would be more comfortable?"

"Are you offering yours?" Rena's silence made him open his eyes. "If I need sleep, I'll use your bed." He watched, amused, as she flushed red. She was surprisingly easy to instill a fever in; he didn't understand why, though. It seemed like this happened whenever they got close to one another.

"But, Gaara…"

His face darkened as he glared at her. "You told me your life was yours to do with as I please. I can take it at any time." He stood to his feet, crossing his arms, his telltale glare freezing her to her spot. "You have no say in what I take from you. You gave yourself to me, so you are mine. You are my possession, so don't think you're in any position to refuse me." And if anyone else dared touch what belonged to him, their death would be slow and painful.

"Yes, Gaara."

He walked past her, out of his room, only for her to follow. She shut his door behind her as they walked over to hers. As they moved into her room, he spoke again. "You wouldn't let me sleep on the floor. I told you, your care makes you easily manipulated- weak."

"If letting you sleep in my bed makes me weak, so be it. It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make." She walked up to the bed, sitting on the covers as she patted down where she wanted him to sit. He stared at her, his face hard and unreadable as always, but proceeded to walk over to it and sit beside her.

"Didn't you say you wanted to get stronger?" He asked, his eyes moving to perceive her.

"Gaara, there is no point in being strong if I end up forgetting why I'm doing it." Rena shook her head, frowning at him. She figured he'd at least understand that much, if not anything else. "If I forget my purpose- you- then why strive to be stronger? Why would I feel the need to? It doesn't make very much sense to continue down this path without you."

Gaara shook his head, making a sound of discontent and annoyance. She shouldn't be thinking of him, nor should he be her reason- her reason should be herself, not anyone else. He would never get stronger with thoughts of her in mind. But she, she should be thinking of herself and getting stronger for herself. He'd be unable to comprehend her reasoning regardless.

"Gaara, the thought of you gives me the strength I need to continue living. I'm sure as hell not selfless, in fact, I'm probably the exact opposite, but… there's one person I'd do anything for." She admitted, her face flushing… but instead of red, in this light, it was purple. That's right… her blood had changed. Her skin was the same on the outside, but that kind of concentration in one place… "Compared to you, nobody else matters. When you're here, everyone else is irrelevant. When you're in pain, I feel like I'm suffering so much I'd rather die than see you hurt, or even take all of your pain and bear it myself. When you want something, I'd tear apart the world to give it to you."

His suffering connected directly to hers? How was that possible? How could anyone see the pain within him and tell him, to his face, that they'd rather bear it themselves? Foolish. She was a fool, nothing more, nothing less. A weak and trembling object. Something to be guarded rather than let loose.

"My wish was heard, you know." This time he turned his head to her, making sure to look directly at her. He wasn't sure what she was going on about now. "My wish… someone heard my wish and helped me escape my cell. I heard someone else crying for freedom and freed them, too. I wonder where she is… but I suppose that's all meaningless now. Then, my second wish was heard. On the way back to the Hidden Sand, I came across a hidden clearing with a broken-down cottage… it was close to the border, you know." Now, this interested him. His attention was captivated by her voice and her expressions. "In there… I found what looked like perfectly preserved dead bodies. They weren't breathing or anything, just… sleeping, eternally." She shook her head. "I met someone there. He had red hair, just like you. He was the only living person there and I didn't know where else to go because I didn't have any directions." She stood from the bed, moving over to the window and opening it. The night breeze blew over her, causing her hair to slightly blow in the breeze. "He was kind. He said he remembered me and expected me to return someday. I told him that I didn't know him and he told me that I would in a while. I spent a while with him and he taught me how to wake the bodies up. Those bodies were Suno and Tsukiyomi."

His eyes widened. They were… corpses? "Who was it that you met in that cottage?" She flinched, but he could feel something rising. Whoever it was… he wanted them dead. He felt some sense of danger, some sense of… not wanting her to return.

"You can't tell Sansa or Baki about this, Gaara. You can't tell anybody! Tsukiyomi and Suno would be taken apart and examined, or something!"

"Who was it that you met in that cottage?" He repeated.

"I.. can't tell you. He told me that if I told anyone, he'd take Tsukiyomi and Suno away. He also says that he's going to ask me for payment later… that I promised him something special before and I just forgot."

"Tell me his name!" Gaara snapped, standing up. It was clear he was upset about her keeping information from him. "If you don't… I'll make you."

"I'm sorry! I can't!"

She was still keeping information from him. Still! All of these secrets… all of these things he didn't know, he wanted to, damn it! "I can't trust you." He turned away from her, disgusted. "Everything… and yet you still… keep these things from me." He began walking out of the room. She reached out to him, but he seemed to get further as she did. "I don't need your bed. I don't need you. I don't care if I'm your reason for living…" He turned his head back to her, eyes narrowing. "Just die."

The door slammed, leaving her in absolute darkness. She simply stared into it as she felt her sanity slip.

X

X

1:00 PM, 3 Days Later

[1 Month Until Chuunin Exam Finals]

The Dancing Leaf Inn, Sansa and Baki's Room

Gaara and Rena's Relationship Level: 0% [Used to be 50%]

X

X

It had been a rather quiet few days. Gaara had avoided Rena, wherever she went. Even if she tried to approach him, it was as if he was pretending he didn't know her. He acted like she wasn't there and tried to disappear whenever she was around. Their relationship was in an even worse state than when she first tried to fix it. It was like that night had destroyed everything she built.

"You win again, damn it!" Kankuro snapped, almost flipping the entire chessboard, but Temari was there to stop him. Today was a day of mental training and Sansa had commanded each of them to either observe or participate, including Gaara himself. They were on either side of the room, as far away from each other as possible.

Every black piece remained on the board, the white ones completely captured. No wonder Kankuro had a problem with his loss. "I've been playing this game for a long time, Kankuro. You can't beat me with a few hours of experience." Temari pressed Kankuro into the ground, causing him to struggle.

"Let… go… Temari! I may not be able to beat her at chess but I sure as hell can beat her ass!" He struggled against his sister's strong grip but failed miserably. Even though he was buff, he wasn't as buff as Temari.

"Are you kidding?! Do you think, as a Genin, we could match the Devil Tactician of the Sand in anything!?" She snapped. "You're crazy, crazy, Kankuro!"

"I DON'T CARE! I'LL DESTROY HER! I WILL, I SWEAR!"

Sansa threw back her head, letting out a loud, bellowing laugh. "Ha! Kid, if ya think you can defeat me, live a few hundred more years or something!"

"You're only thirty!" Kankuro screeched.

"And?! You'd need two hundred years to get a leg up on me!" Their bickering continued with Kankuro throwing a similar amount of threats and insults until Baki smacked the back of his head.

"Shut up, will you?" In the end, Kankuro would never beat Sansa… she was the leader of the Hidden Sand's ANBU. Baki was fairly sure he would be unable to beat her. Most Jonin would be around their Genin, but the Genin of the Sand was ordered to act on their own while the Jonin surveyed all exits and examined the Hidden Leaf and their forces for the destruction of the Leaf. They had mostly completed their duties thanks to Sansa's direction and earlier than they thought they would.

"Rena. Let's see if your mind has grown any since your last match." Rena hadn't been paying attention until her name was mentioned, to which her head snapped up, eyes wide as if she had been caught in spotlights. "Come on, you don't refuse a challenge." Sansa's eyes narrowed and it felt like the very air in the room had changed, causing Kankuro to stop struggling as he watched Rena walk up to the table. "And if you do back down, you're a failure." Sansa flipped open a paper fan on the table and began to fan herself, placing one of the soles of her feet on the edge of the table as she leaned her chair back, balancing it on two legs.

Rena sat down, rearranging the chessboard to the best of her memory. "Fine." She muttered, looking away from her mother. She wasn't really in the mood for any of this. "Just one match."

"I'm going to win, so it's pointless. Courtesy first moves to you." She gestured to the board. Rena moved one of her pawns forward and Sansa looked at her in distaste. "This is going to go exactly like how the Wall Run did."

"What?" Rena glared at her. If only looks could kill.

"You'll give up before you even get halfway to the goal." Sansa's eyes were now entirely sadistic as if she were looking down on the poor girl as she moved her piece. "The girl I raised wasn't as pathetic as to stay down. She would have gotten right back up and tried again."

"The rules are-"

"Something you never listened to, so why are they of any concern to you now?" Rena made another move and Sansa had matched hers in a flash. "Bullshit doesn't work on me. You should know this."

"Aren't you supposed to tell me to follow the rules?" Another move.

Sansa looked away from the chessboard, her eyes half-lidded as if she was bored. "It's whatever, honestly." Damn it! That response annoyed her so much! Still, the woman moved her next piece. "But I believe I once told you that you can do nothing simply by standing still and waiting for your fate."

"And?! What's it to you?"

"You're going to die if you fight Kana," Sansa said, sighing. Another move again. There it was- the feeling she had been coming across recently. Disappointment. Why was it that whenever she thought she could do something, others didn't? "This board is a battlefield, yet you can't even take that seriously. Your mind… your heart… They're distracted. Weighed down. Discard whatever is chaining you, Rena."

Sansa's next move took two of her pieces. Rena's hands curled into fists. "There's nothing similar to battle on this board."

"Then you're ignorant, and it makes sense you're going to fail to become a Chuunin."

Rena stood, flames in her eyes. "Who says?! Huh? You? The Hidden Sand? The Hidden Leaf? Tell me! I'll prove you wrong, damn it!"

"It's not me who dictates whether you fail or succeed, Rena." Sansa shook her head, sighing, resting her chin on her knee. "It's you, and you're not ready."

"That's what you think."

"That's what I know. You're the weakest one here, aren't you?"

"What… what's that supposed to mean?"

"No proper training… you're not in shape, you lack the common sense and knowledge of the shinobi world." Sansa moved to stand up. "In the end, you're… just someone who gives up when you're halfway to the goal. Forfeit the exam."

"I can't!" Rena snapped as she walked out of the room, Sansa almost laughed, but she supposed it would be inappropriate for the situation. She didn't like that Gaara had slipped out, as well. As she moved to clean up the pieces, she realized that one of her chess sets had been taken. The one made of sand-glass.

"Should I go after her?"

"No, Kankuro," Sansa shook her head. "There are some hard lessons in life that girl has to learn, and sugarcoating things will do nothing other than speed along with her death. I do this out of love. She needs a wakeup call."

Rena had retreated to the roof, somewhere where she could be alone without having to worry about Sansa's constant poking and prodding. She had forgotten how much her mother expected of her; she understood her reasons, but in the end, she didn't have to be that mean about it, did she?

Sighing, she laid back, looking up at the sky. The last time she'd been up here… It'd been with Gaara. Before the Chuunin Exams. Before Tsukiyomi got hurt, back before they met Su… and before Ikari had started visiting their hotel every day. Sansa and Baki had been annoyed by him at first, but after he started paying for all of their meals they relaxed a little. Speaking of Tsukiyomi, although Kankuro was almost exploding from having to keep such a big secret about Su being from another village entirely and not even the shinobi they pretended she was, he had been held back from telling the truth by Temari. They were already too far into the lie to stop now, but Temari had assured Rena that Su would be going back to her village and that the lie would stop post-exams.

She shot up, hearing a noise- one that she didn't expect. Gaara was laying down a glass chessboard on the flatter part of the roof, the pieces clinking together as he set it up. She looked at him, puzzled as to why, but he continued silently working as he sat down on the other side of it silently… and waited.

"If I win this match, you die if you bother me again. If you win, we continue as we have been… No, we add extra terms to what we have."

"What…?" Could it be that Gaara wanted her to win? Why this? Why now?

"Don't ask questions. Just play."