Down the Rabbit Hole

"I don't think this will work." His thoughts were defeated long before the sun set.

Gaara had been perched in his windowsill, staring out at the village, for hours. The feeling of hopelessness rising and breaking with each passing moment.

He didn't want to doubt Sakura, he really didn't, but what jutsu could there be, that he hadn't tried before? It wasn't like this lifestyle was new to him. What could that girl have to offer?

It was probably all a waste of time. He'd wasted everyone's time.

The image of her determined expression flashed through his mind.

Despite himself, he felt a small smile at the memory. She'd certainly caused quite a stir, if nothing else.

Maybe he could write this whole thing off as a peace-keeping exercise?

Well done, Lord Kazekage. Five stars.

He scoffed and rested his head against the stone frame, watching as the lamps in the village came on, one by one.

He used to count them when he was a child; tiny spots of flame in the night. He'd watch them all come on and then one by one snuff out, leaving only him alone in the darkness.

Where he'd always been.

At the sound of the knock, he nearly tumbled out of the windowsill, but managed to catch himself last minute.

He stood and composed himself for that funny, ragged girl to enter.

What he saw instead, was a creature out of a dream, or at least, what he imagined dreams looked like.

She moved with such grace, she seemed like she was floating, each step careful and planned. Her heavy bag rested against the wall, though it didn't even make a sound when she set it down and turned to face him.

In a single, fluid motion, she slipped one leg behind the other and offered a low bow. "Lord Kazekage."

Gaara watched, mouth open, so transfixed at the transformation, that he almost missed his title.

He cleared his throat to find his voice, though it took longer than he was comfortable admitting. "Gaara, please. I hate being called anything so formal in my home, Ms. Ito."

Her painted lips curled up, as she straightened from her perch and assessed him. "As you wish. Then to be fair, I'd like you to call me 'Rin.' I hate formality as well."

"All right, Rin. So, how do we proceed?"

She gestured to the bed in one, graceful sweep. "You get comfortable, while I set up."

He nodded and headed towards the unfamiliar space, taking special care to keep her in his sights the whole time.

Gaara wasn't afraid of her like his council, anything she could possibly attack with, would pale in comparison to his sand.

But, there was something about her that unnerved him. Something in the way she moved, the otherworldly grace that seemed practiced and yet unnatural in her steps.

It was putting him on edge, rather than at the ease she intended.

Rin bent low to grab her supplies, thinking to herself. "So far, so good. Just keep it together until you can sit and we'll be in the clear."

After walking only four or five steps, the silky cloth caught at her foot and before she could stop it, the room tumbled upside down.

Rin felt as if her entire world would shatter right then and there and she begged that it would. She'd done the one thing she knew there would be no recovery from.

She'd messed up. She'd messed up in front of the Kazekage.

The only thing left to do is go die in the desert. I wonder if any of the lizards were venomous?

"Um, Ms. I... Rin?"

She remained laying on the floor. "Yes, Lord Gaara?"

"Would you like a hand up?"

"Please."

Suddenly, there was a warmth surrounding her; not hands, but something else. Rin felt her disgraced body lift back to her feet, as if she were weightless.

Gaara remained sitting on the bed, his hand outstretched. The sand from the large gourd resting on the wall, covered her and retreated back into its home.

She brushed away the stray hairs from her bun and bowed her apology. "I'm so sorry. I don't usually meet my appointments in this fancy of attire. My movements were sloppy. I hope you can forgive my disgraceful performance."

Much to her surprise, the Kazekage smiled. "It's more than all right. Honestly, the show was lovely, but I prefer this. I was curious to see the girl who silenced my council today. I think I can relax now, that I don't feel like I'LL mess something up."

Rin exhaled, the relief cascading down her back. "If that's the case, then permit me one moment to make a few changes."

She removed the hair piece and let her hair fall down in ripples. The shoes she'd been permitted to wear inside, came off and found a home near the door and the tie on the back of her kimono loosened so she could breathe again, in fact, she decided to take the entire thing off.

Beneath it, the familiar clothes she wore for her appointments, waited. She'd intended to change later in the night, after he'd fallen asleep, but now was as good of time as any.

After tucking away her mother's kimono and rejoining her client, Rin felt much more herself, which made him feel better too. "Shall we proceed for real?"

"Yes, tell me how this jutsu works."

Rin nodded, loving the freedom she had to move now.

She hoisted her bag up to the table and began unpacking various supplies. "As far as I know, it's a jutsu only myself and my mother have perfected. It's taken years to get just right."

She took out her prized incense holder, a wooden container with a dragon on the end.

Turning to the Kazekage, she offered him three different sticks. "Pick the scent you favor the most."

He smelt each one carefully and completely, his dedication to detail another interesting trait, she noted.

"I like the third one the best."

She nodded. "All right, jasmine it is. Very good choice."

After lighting the stick and placing it in the dragon's mouth, she picked up a bottle of dark blue glass, with a cork securely fastened and held it up for him to inspect. "Oils for later."

"I know my staff searched and signed off all your materials. You don't have to tell me the functions, if you do not wish it."

"On the contrary, it's important you're involved in the process. If anything is going to be made clear by the end of this experience, it's that you are firmly in control of how things go, the entire time."

He nodded, processing her words, as she unpacked the final item from her bag; an arm's length of red ribbon. "I call this jutsu, Somnam, the Sleepwalker Jutsu."

"How does it work?"

"One of two ways. The shorthand, I cast the jutsu and it brings at least eight hours of undisturbed sleep."

"That sounds good."

She gave him a quick once-over. "Unfortunately, I don't think that'll do the trick. Your insomnia is on a different level than the average person. Besides, it would only give you the one night and we don't want this to be a temporary fix. The second way, is what you and I will focus on."

"What's the second way?"

Rin grabbed the dark bottle and the red ribbon and walked to stand by his bed. "We're going to figure out the cause of your sleeplessness. What's firing in your mind to keep it from relaxing? I understand in the past you were able to feign sleep when the One-Tail battled for you, yes?"

He felt defensive at her knowledge of that jutsu, but remembered the events of the Chunin exams. It wasn't surprising there'd be record of his actions. "Yes."

"Were you in a full sleep while that was happening?"

"No. I was always aware."

"Okay, so this won't be as foreign to you. With this jutsu, I'll place the oil on your eyelids, wrap the ribbon around our hands, and with your permission, take a peek into your subconscious to see what the blockage is."

Gaara searched her face, his eyes cutting. "You're going to walk around in my brain?"

"Yes, in a sense."

"I don't know how I feel about that."

Rin shrugged. "It's the only way to proceed. I want you to know, you will be aware the entire time. There's nothing I'll see that you haven't consented me to see. It won't harm you and it won't control you by any means. It's something like hypnotism. You'll simply be in a more relaxed state for us to find a solution. In this way, you'll continue the technique when I'm gone and bring yourself sleep."

This was a lot for him to take in.

The darkness that laid within his mind, was something no one, other than Naruto perhaps, should see.

But if there was no other way for the peace he sought and she wasn't lying about him being the one to show her what he wanted...

"All right."

Rin smiled. First level of progress achieved. "Okay. Scooch over."

"Shouldn't I be laying down?"

She shook her head. "Not yet, we do this sitting first."

The bed was perfect, not too soft, not too hard. She could see he put a lot of effort in his past attempts to sleep.

Brushing her fingers forward, she took hold of his hand and it wasn't what she expected.

From the sand surrounding him, she'd assumed his grip would be rough and ragged. Instead, the skin felt smooth and cool beneath her touch.

Raising the hand up, she intertwined their fingers and wrapped the red ribbon around their wrists, trying not to smile at how panicked his eyes were, when they flashed between the grasp, to her face and back.

"This ribbon acts as a conduit for our combined chakra. It's a tool that helps me stay anchored and grounded throughout the process."

"I see."

With her free hand, she balanced the bottle in the crook of her folded leg and moved her thumb to pop open the cork.

Dabbing her fingers in the oil, she raised it up for him to inspect. "Close your eyes."

He hesitated, searching her face for any trace of malevolence.

Her soft smile in the candlelight, made him want to study her. She had such expressive eyes, but no where did they show anything besides what she'd promised.

It was difficult, almost painstakingly so, but with a deep swallow, he closed his eyes and waited.

Careful not to press too hard, she followed the ring of black encircling his tired gaze, marveling at how deep it was.

He tensed at first, unfamiliar with another person's touch on his face, but relaxed after she lightly massaged around one eye and then the other.

Her touch was warm, as he expected it to be, though it was softer than he believed.

After a few more circles, he almost felt as if this would be enough to put him to sleep. He'd never stay that way, of course, but it would be a nice way to try.

Her hands told him she was an expert in her field and that gave him confidence in what they were doing. They didn't falter or shake and it dawned on him that this was the first time anyone, in his adult life, had touched his face.

He wasn't sure how to feel about that knowledge.

She corked the bottle and placed it on the nightstand.

After a moment, her voice directed him. "We're going to take a few deep breaths together. See if you can match the way I do it, ready and go."

She inhaled through her nose for a full five seconds and exhaled five seconds out through her mouth.

It was surprisingly difficult the first few times for Gaara to breathe as deeply as she did- he only seemed to manage three seconds, at best.

His brow furled in frustration, the strain of his expectations melting his expression into a scowl.

Rin studied the face.

By the lines that were engraving themselves in his forehead, she could tell this was a common look for him.

Her hand came to his chest. "Your body is so tight. This breathing we're doing is going to help unwind that rigidity inside of you. It's fine if you can't do it on the first try. We have all the time in the world. Now, try it with me."

He followed, breathing in and out as she instructed, but still couldn't get it right.

Rin wanted to laugh, but held it in.

Instead, she took his free hand and placed it on her chest, right over her heart.

Gaara froze at the feeling, a slight blush rising to his face. "Ms. Ito?"

"Rin."

"Rin... what are you?"

She inhaled deeply. "Follow my lead. Match your energy with mine."

His eyes remained closed and that may have been for the best. The sight of his hand that close to her.... well, he was glad his eyes were closed.

After a try or two, when he focused on the steady rhythm of her heartbeat, he managed to get it right, breathing in sync with her.

Rin grinned. "Good. Now you keep that up, I'm going to start the jutsu. Are you ready?"

He nodded, thoroughly focused on the pattern of breathing he'd just achieved.

She placed her free hand on his forehead and focused her chakra. "Somnam Justu."

The rush of power flowed through her fingers, filling up her veins and pouring into the host before her. She knew he could feel it too, by a slight hitch in the pattern of his breathing.

After a moment or so of sharing chakra, she slid her hand down his face, to rest on his stomach, pushing gently, but firmly enough to move him backwards, until his back was resting against the headboard.

Their journey began.