Nearly Angels (Sequel to BBV: Gaara love story)

Chapter 1

Screaming. The shrill sound broke through the clear silence of my thoughts, and brought my sight to what was happening in front of me.

"O-Onee...chan" It was Ichigo. She writhed on the ground, dark blood seeping from the deep wound on her throat. I felt my limbs frozen and useless at my side as my younger sister looked up at me with her deep green eyes, pleading for mercy, for help. My throat was tight, a heavy feeling settling in the bottom of my stomach.

'Stop it... Stop it...' My head throbbed as a familiar dark laughter filled the air around me. Although the sound came from my mouth, the voice was not mine at all. I felt my legs moving towards the nearby forest, leaving Ichigo bleeding on the ground behind me. I felt like crying, like screaming and running, but instead the body that had been taken over stalked slowly towards the forest with precision. I heard voices shouting as I reached the dense undergrowth of the woods. The words barely audible to me, the sounds muffled as they reached my ears. I knew what was coming next. The people of the village would come and I would be-

"Onee-sama!" My eyes shot open. "Wake up! You slept too late, you lazy fox! Get up!"

I groaned, rolling over on my side and away from the loud voice in my face. It couldn't be that late, I was still so sleepy, and my bed was so nice I could almost go back to sleep if I just closed my eyes and...

"Ouch!" I yelped as I felt a small form flop down on top of me. "I'm up, I'm up!" I sat up with a frown on my face, looking down to face the girl on top of me. "Ah.... Mei-mei you need to be gentle with me in the mornings, I've told you that before." I whined, a hand on the side of my head. The child giggled and scrambled to jump off of my bed, landing with a thud on the wooden floor.

"You're leaving soon, Onee-sama, I don't want you to sleep the day away." Mei-mei smiled up at me with her wide brown eyes. I could tell she was hiding sadness, and she had a good reason for it.

"I'm not leaving until tomorrow, and even then I still have the whole morning with you, baka." I mumbled, pushing the fluffy blanket off of my body and moving to stand with my feet on the floor. I stretched my arms high above my head, yawning loudly. Mei-mei giggled again, running out the door of my room and through the rest of the house. I could hear her footsteps padding down the hall towards the front of the Inn.

'Leaving tomorrow will be so weird.' I thought to myself as I grabbed my brush off of the side table next to my bed and walked to stand in front of my mirror. I looked at my reflection for a moment, starting to realize just how different I looked from the last time I had been in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. So much had changed, not only in appearance, but in my entire being. When I left I was barely 16 years old. And standing at the mirror gazing at my 18 year old self, I couldn't help but smile a little.

My eyes were no longer a jarring red, but they had reverted back to the dark green they were when I was a child, and my hair was the same fiery color that it had always been. I was taller and my frame had filled out nicely. When I was younger my cheeks were full and round, but my face had slimmed down and gently sloped with graceful angles. My body had become more muscular, and curvy. All around I was more mature, both physically and in skill.

The only reason I could justify the changing of my eyes was that ever since I left Konoha, my demon had been dormant inside of me. It was a welcomed change, even if I had no idea why it was so still in my mind. The change was slow, but I was happy the stark red color was gone, I looked a little less... Maniacal.