Blood and Iron

3

"Can you please put me down now? My head is getting heavy..."

He glances at me and slowly puts me down. I lay on my back for a minute or two to let the blood flow regulate before slowly sitting up. After a bit of that, I stand up. I don't ever want to go through that again... when I immediately stood after hanging upside down, I... fainted... it wasn't pleasant...

"So what now?" I ask.

He hands me some dango.

"Dango? What about a real meal?"

I take it anyway. I don't want to make him angry... plus, I love dango.

I take a bite and smile.

We start walking to the hotel and find Kankuro working on his puppets. He and Temari were yelling at each other.

"Stop talking." Gaara says coldly.

Immediately, silence follows.

"Koishi, is that dango?" Temari asks accusingly.

"Yup!" I reply, grinning.

"Dango isn't something you should be eating for a meal!" She scolds me.

"C'mon, Temari, it's not like she'll get the chance to eat all that dango in her so-called 'future'." Kankuro says. Temari glares at him then smacks him over the head.

I set the dango down and smile at them. "I think I'll turn in for the night. Not much else to do."

I walk past Gaara to a connected room and lay down on the bed. Why does he hate me so much? Why does he keep reminding me of how little time I have left?

It hurts.

After staring at the ceiling for a while, I get up and crawl out the window to the roof.

"You shouldn't have come." Gaara says as I sit down next to him.

"Am I bothering you? Heh, sorry..." I rub the back of my head and poke out my tongue playfully.

He shakes his head. "The Chunin exams." Is all he says.

"Oh... Well, you'll be there. I have nothing to worry about." I grin.

He sighs.

I lean over so my head is on his shoulder and yawn.

"You should sleep."

"No."

"Yes."

"No. I have to keep you company."

He shakes his head and looks back over the village.

I notice the moon. It's so pretty...

With that last thought, I fall asleep.