Remembered Light (Naruto FanFic)

Chapter Nine

Gaara has been... distant, these past few days. Not outright mean, but not going out of his way to be nice, either.

I understand why he's afraid, afraid to be hurt by me again... but he's hurt me, too.

I sighed dejectedly, stirring my ramen listlessly. I had aquired a taste for the noodles after being neighbors and on the same team as Naruto.

I look up as Temari, Kankuro and Gaara enter the room. Gaara was already in his Kazekage robes, ready for another day of work. Temari pours herself a cup of coffee, breathing in the scent with close-eyed bliss.

She sat down, taking small sips. Kankuro chewed on a rice ball, looking around at eeryone. Gaara sat at the far end of the table, not quite scowling but certainly not happy.

Temari leaned forward, ignoring the steam from her coffee that spiraled into her face.. "Keira, I think it's about time we all talked," She announced.

I looked up, a rock dropping into my stomach as uneasiness wormed it's way into my mind. "About what?" I ask hesitantly.

"I think you know," She answered sternly.

I shift around, searching for even one set of vaguely sympathetic eyes among them. I found nothing. "Well, uh..." I search for something to say, "Can you guys ask some questions? I don't know where to start..."

"What did Orochimaru do to you?" Kankuro fired off at me.

I flinch at the sound of his name. Then I told them everything.

How Orochimaru tortured me. Physically. Mentally. Emotionally. And he was so good at it. He knew just how to twist my mind, what to say to break my spirit, how close to starvation he could take me.

I told them how my heart broke when I fought Sasuke. Orochimaru often made me fight other prisoners, but to fight my own teamate... He beat me within an inch of my life, and managed to make me feel completely worthless at the same time

Then I got to the experiments. The fucking experiments. But none of the experiments gave me more power. No, he took my power away. I felt like a weapon stripped bare. Useless. He stole my speed away from me. My superhuman speed. My speed that matched, if not beat Lee's speed.

He took away my ability to mimic voices. I loved that. It was so childish yet fun to play pranks on people with other people's voices. And it was mine. And now it was gone.

My Lightning style. Now I could only use wind and water. I felt so accomplished, having three chakra types. My two strongest nature chakra's had been Wind and Water. It took me years of training to develop and nurture the weak and wavering Lightning chakra I had.

And he blinded me. Just because he wanted to test out the possibility of night vision.

And honestly...

I think he knew that experiment would be a failure. He knew that I would be blinded.

I take a shaky breath. "Can we stop for today?" I beg. "I don't want to talk about this any more,"

Temari and Kankuro exchange a look, ignoring Gaara, who was shaking with anger. "Sure," Kankuro agreed gently, standing with Temari.

I kept my gaze on the table as they left the room. Kankuro squeezed my shoulder in silent support. Temari exchanged a sympathetic look with me, eyes filled with sadness. Sympathetic, not empathetic. Because she could never fully understand what I went through.

The moment Gaara's siblings were gone, he stood, quickly pressing his lips to my cheek. This was the Gaara I knew, the way he acted when no one was looking. The way he understands without feeling the need to say anything.