Dangerous Creatures

"It started out in the darkness." Yashida's voice rattled in the back of his throat.

Temari squeezed his hand, keeping him grounded. "What did?"

Yashida panted. "You know I'm the fourth son of my clan, yes? That means I'll never lay claim to the head, not before my brothers. They're all talented shinobi. Warriors. I was never a warrior."

That was true. Temari, herself, fought beside the Sato boys.

Each were capable and built for the battleground, near replicas of their father. Only Yashida, took after their mother, his body slight, his mind sharp, but gentler than the rest of his kin.

Even with his knowledge of explosives and traps, he could only do so much in a hand-to-hand fight.

"Father never expected anything out of me. My council seat was the greatest success, I'd ever own. He was proud of me for that. But that was it, I met my purpose at the age of twenty. Nothing else was expected of me. I'd marry a nice girl, not too pretty, so she wouldn't outshine my brother's wives, but good enough for our bloodline. I'd have children, sons, preferably."

That comment irked Temari, but she maintained her stone expression.

"I'd reached my peak and I was bored with it. My life was so painstakingly boring. I hated the women they'd paired me with. All stupid, vapid, noblewomen, who couldn't hold a conversation with me, outside of tea and floral arrangements. I wanted something exciting. So, I went to the Mirage."

She wanted to roll her eyes. Temari heard of the Mirage before, but certainly never visited.

It was a place, on the edge of the desert, where you discarded your senses, for impulse, and hedonism ruled with a seductive fist.

Of course, someone like Yashida would occupy a place like that. He must have traveled back and forth all night to cover that distance.

"You're judging me. It's okay. I don't blame you."

"What happened when you went to the Mirage?"

Despite the gaping wounds that were once his legs and the steady chill that was overtaking his body, the dying man smiled. "Everything."

He inhaled; the memories of lewd activities fresh in his mind. "I tried everything my salary as a councilman could buy; drugs, liquor, women, all of it. But, the boredom set in again. I was masking the real problem, until I met her."

Temari's ears perked up. "Who?"

"The girl from the Sound."

Images of Rin flashed through her mind. "Rin Ito? The one who was brought for the Kazekage?"

He shook his head. "No, though they do wear the same face."

"I don't understand."

"It surprised me too, when I saw her in the courtroom that day. The resemblance was so uncanny, I thought perhaps she was a twin. Little did I know, the Kazekage's new pet was related to my desert rose, but not a twin, at all."

"Sister?"

"Daughter."

Temari's jaw dropped, her mind spinning with the information. "What did she want?"

Yashida moaned, the loss of blood clear on his face.

She shook his arm. "Stay with me, Yashida. Tell me what happened next."

"She offered me something new. A drug, without the side effects. Sex without the consequences. She went into my mind and oh... the things she did."

"I don't need to know."

The councilman sighed. "I went back to see her, every night. I spent all the money I had requesting her. She was a drug to me. The sweetest I'd ever tasted. She'd ask me about my job, about my life, made me feel important. She respected me, like I'd always wanted to be respected."

Temari knew where this was going. "She asked you about the Rin Ito, didn't she?"

"She did. I asked how she knew about the Kazekage's request and she said she knew her personally. Then, she asked me other things. Secrets about the village. About security."

"And that didn't tip you off?"

He groaned. "It's hard to think about anything else when she's riding your..."

"Stupid man."

"I was. She made me stupid and then she made me weak. I needed the feeling she gave me. I needed her jutsu, but she withheld it from me. I was on my knees, begging her, sobbing at her feet, but she still denied me, until I told her everything. It didn't seem like that big of secret. The Kazekage hired a girl to help him sleep. How was that ground breaking?"

Temari sighed. It never ceased to amaze her how easily men could be manipulated with sweet words and experienced hands.

Yashida started to shake. "Getting cold."

"I know."

"After begging and going without her, she finally casted on me and then...then everything was strange. She convinced me to bomb the south wall and gave me her headband to plant there, so the Sound would be suspected. She brought the boy Ms. Ito loved back from the dead and set him against her. Used my puppetry jutsu to make him attack her. She did terrible things and I... I helped her do them. God... I helped her."

Tears streamed down his face, his hand clutched Temari's. "I'm so sorry. I'm a stupid, prideful, fool. I don't deserve the Kazekage's kindness. I had everything and I threw it away for a good feeling. I'm sorry."

Temari's other hand came to his eyes and she held it there. "Shh, it's all right, Yashida. Rest now. Everything is all right."

He sobbed under her hand. His face pinched together in sorrow, until his cries quieted and his grasp on hers went slack.

The Captain stood from her perch and looked from the trail of blood on the white sand, to the moonless night above her.

A woman brought him into this world and another took him out of it.

Women were dangerous creatures.

~

Gaara maintained his stance. He relied heavily on his sand, but that wasn't the only experience he had.

"Who are you? Show yourself, coward."

"Coward, am I? I prefer to think of myself as a tactical master."

He didn't say anything back.

The voice sighed. "Oh, very well, if you insist."

Suddenly, a light appeared before them, like a torch, but so much brighter. It filled the room with a dull, orange light, illuminating an unconscious Haru, a confused Gaara, a sobbing Rin and a woman who wore her face.

She smiled. "Surprised? I'm sure this is a shock to you."

"I don't understand."

Her smiled transformed into a cruel laugh. "Twists the mind, doesn't it? Seeing the face of the one you love on someone else. You would have known me, Lord Kazekage. If things kept going at the rate, they are, I'm sure you would have called me, 'Mother-in-law' before too long."

Gaara's eyes widened. "You're Rin's mother?"

She shrugged. "More or less. She said it was nicer to think of me that way, instead of the cast-off model. Even gave me a name, if you can believe that? Yua."

"Which means 'affection.' Obviously, you don't feel the same way."

"I don't?"

He looked down to the fresh gash, he knew would be bleeding in Rin's waking body. "Clearly."

Yua sighed and approached the pair, both still trapped in their nightmares.

She patted Rin's head, sending waves of anger through the Kazekage. "Of course, I love my little protégée. Everybody loves her. Didn't you know that? You, of all people, should."

Gaara's feet slid a few inches towards her.

"I wouldn't come any closer, if I were you."

He froze.

Yua brushed back Rin's hair. "Her chakra is almost depleted. I always told her to work on her focus, but, as usual, she's let her emotions get in the way. I knew they would. Subject 15 always brought out the woman in her."

"Subject 15?"

Her eyes took in Gaara. "Oh, she hasn't shared all of her past with you, has she? What a sneaky little thing for her to do."

"I know about hers and Haru's relationship, if that's what you're getting at. Rin has always been honest with me."

Yua stood from her perch, crossing her arms, with a smile that chilled him from within. "Has she, Lord Kazekage? What secrets have the two of you whispered in the night?"

"There haven't been any secrets."

"That's laughable. It's written all over your face. My Rin wormed her way into your heart and, the best thing out of this, is how easily you let her and how, even now, you don't realize why she was sent to do it."

Gaara's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

He knew he shouldn't entertain her statements, but he'd hoped the bided time would allow Rin to figure out how to escape from wherever she was.

The more Yua focused on him, the less she was on Rin and that's all he could do, at the moment.

"You sent a request for a kunoichi from the Sound, yes? One who could give you the peace, you sought?"

"Yes."

"Did you know there were two of us? In fact, I have more experience than Rin. She may be the model made after my DNA, but I have the skills which would have benefited you, far more than she. Her talent lies in healing, mine is control. Everyone in this wide world, knows of the monster that dwelt within you. I find it hard to believe it was completely removed, just like that. There is still darkness inside you, Lord Gaara. I can smell it."

He felt caught in her gaze. She may have worn Rin's face, but her tone of voice, her mannerisms, everything else was different.

She was a cat and he was the mouse she wanted to play with, before she devoured him.

"So, why weren't you sent, if that were the case?"

Yua shrugged, her canary-smile stretching. "Why indeed? What reason could Lord Orochimaru have, to send his favorite pet to the Sand? Why extend the soft hand, when I could solve your problem in one night and be done with it?"

Gaara didn't answer her question, a part of him was asking it as well.

She sauntered up to the man before her, her hips swaying with a sexuality that was engraved in her steps. "She was sent to gain your trust, Lord Kazekage. Once she had that, it would be all too easy to manipulate you to the Sound's wishes. That's all you ever were to her; nothing more than an arranged meeting that would blossom into a fortuitous match for us."

"That's not true."

Yua stopped her taunting, pulling away to look at his face. "You don't actually think she's loves you, do you?"

"Yes."

Her hands came to her mouth, barely hiding the expression that was a mixture of joy and pity. "Oh... oh you poor thing. You poor, stupid man! Think back, has Rin Ito ever said that she loved you? Have the words actually left her lips?"

Gaara tried to think. He knew they'd felt something real and he'd loved her, but if it was actually put forth like that...

"No."

Yua nodded. "No, she won't say that to you, because she doesn't love you, not really. She pities you. That's the cruel thing about my little Rin."

Her hands came to Gaara's face, stroking down his high cheek-bones, his chiseled jaw. "She comes to you with sweetness. Her soft, lulling voice, the tender brush of her hands. The way she looks at you, like you're the most important person in the world. I may be controlling and aggressive, but Rin Ito is a savage and you were her latest prey."

Gaara froze, her words sinking into his soul.

Yua brought her lips to his ear. "You were so desperate for someone, anyone to love you. Oh sweet boy, you never stood a chance."

"That's enough... Mother."