Flowers For Gaara

Chapter Ten: Time

This is what happens when you put your life on the line. Not just your life, but your heart, which is really the same thing in the end. Mine was out in the open waiting to be embraced or shed to tiny bloody little pieces. Looking at Gaara, I've come to see him as more than a killer, but now, he seems as distant as the first time we met. I bite my lip in anticipation. What is taking him so long to answer?

"No."

I laugh incredulously, and repeat, "No?"

He remains immobile.

"NO? N-N..." I take a sharp intake of breath, "No? As in....no?" I choke on my own words, and finally snap. "No to what? NO TO FUCKING WHAT?"

"Shh!" Gaara hisses and pulls me aside as people begin to stare.

Shh? DON'T YOU DARE "SHH" ME!

"W-Wait....Gaara? Do you mean 'no' you can't go to the festival? We can do something else, i-if that's better for you. I don't even like festivals really!" I completely push the dress out of my mind, the one I bought to look nice especially for Gaara.

"Stop," He says. Finally, the man speaks. "D-Don't talk so much."

I remain silent, with my mouth hanging open. Does he know how bad he is at talking to people?

Carefully avoiding my gaze, he speaks with very controlled speech. "Now is not a good time."

And that was the only answer he gave me.

Now is not a good time. Now is not a good time. Now is not a good time.

Words just won't get out of my head as I walk the dirt path to my house. Through my eyes and a thick film of water, I can only see the ground swirling beneath as I try my best to get home as soon as possible. "Now is not a good time" is the only thing he said before leaving. That's just not right.

What time would be better?

Should I have pushed back the hand on a clock and asked him again? Or maybe pushed it forward?

I try not to compare this to the pleasant, knife-in-the-heart experience I had with Sasuke not all that long ago. It would be too cruel to experience the same kind of pain in such a short time frame. This had to be different. Gaara is not like Sasuke! He isn't! I can tell, because this time, the pain is at least ten times worse.

"Ino!"

Whatever voice is calling out to me, I ignore it. I'd just cry if I tried to speak. That would be embarrassing. I wipe a hand over my face before any wetness can leak from my eyes. Then I mess with my hair as if that's what I was really trying to do in the first place. I have no idea who I pass, but I finally get to my house.

The door bursts open with the dangerous force of my tear-stained hands, and I run straight for the stairs. The door to my room shuts loudly.

"Ino-kun?" I hear my mother's quizzical voice. "Inoooooooo? Hm..."

Her footsteps led her somewhere else.

Yes, please ignore me. Everyone.

I guess you can say what I did was stupid. Of course Gaara would be scared if some weird girl just blurted out some confession. I didn't even give him time to prepare. I didn't hand him a program for "Ino's Tragic One-Sided Romance," the play of the year. Men don't like to be surprised like that, especially by girls they don't like.

My body slides down slightly from my bed. I am in an odd position. My legs are nearly hanging to the floor and my arms are bent under my head to support it. My sheets are damp - soaking - from tears. My eyes feel swollen and heavy, and yet they pale in comparison to the weight of my heart. You'd think a heart that was broken would weigh less than one that was full of joy.