I Know Him

"Oh god." She whispered, flinging her legs out of bed.

The sudden change of momentum, made her fall back a few steps, the floor rushing up to meet her.

Kankuro's hands came to her arms. "What are you doing? Get back in bed."

Rin shook the dizziness out of her vision. "I have to get to him."

"To who?"

"To Gaara! I have to stop him!"

His face melted into a mixture of confusion and concern. "Stop him from what? Putting down the dog that mauled you? Why would you do that?"

She broke free of his grasp and started towards the door, stopping short when the IVs launched her back towards the bed.

Kankuro hissed at the sight of bloody tracks left in her arm. "You need to slow down! Come on, get back in bed. You can't stop this."

Rin took hold of the clear pipes and ripped them out of her body. "The hell, I can't."

"Rin, please."

She pushed him off again, but fell with the movement.

He caught her just before she hit the ground.

The pain meds made her tired and dizzy.

She knew she lost a lot of blood, but not enough to feel this way. The Sand had access to medications she didn't expect, but she was no stranger to being sedated against her will.

Her tolerance was the only thing fighting against the desire to surrender to their effects.

At this rate, she wouldn't make it out of the hospital, let alone stop Gaara.

Her eyes turned up to Kankuro; panicked, frustrated tears streaming down her face. She noticed his hands holding her tight and the idea came to her mind.

Gently, her fingers brushed his, the connection between them intensified through her chakra. "Please. Please help me stop him."

Kankuro blinked, feeling lost in her gaze. "You can't stop him. No one can."

Her hands came to his face, holding it, so he stayed trapped within her. "I can."

He knew she was doing something to him, some part of his brain knew that it wasn't just her pleading that captivated him this way, but he didn't care.

For whatever reason, he felt tied to Rin.

He owed her a debt for his brother's happiness and part of him already accepted her as a friend, but there was a bit more than that.

Kankuro raised his hands to rest on hers and gently pulled them away from his face. "You don't have to manipulate me for this, Rin. I'll take you, if you really need me to."

"I do!"

"Then I'll do it, but you need to promise me something."

"Yes?"

His expression turned deathly serious. "Don't ever try to take my mind again."

She managed a small nod and felt ashamed at her actions.

Desperate times called for desperate measures, but he was right. She'd said only yesterday, that violating another person's will was against her values and there she was, trying it on the first person who was kind to her in the Sand.

Kankuro swept an arm under her legs and walked her out of the hospital, the medics shouting after them. "Captain! What are you doing? Put the patient back!"

Rin yelled over her shoulder. "I'm leaving of my own free will! You can't keep me against my wishes!"

They stood, helpless and she suddenly felt a pang of guilt. "Sorry! Thank you for taking care of me!"

The door slammed behind them and Kankuro headed towards the prison.

Rin's arms were hooked behind his neck, her eyes searching his face. "I'm sorry to you as well, Kankuro. I just felt desperate to go."

"It's fine. Why are you so against this? Gaara is acting out of your interests."

She shook her head. "No, he's acting out of revenge and that's not something I want for him. I don't think you do either."

He was silent, but his arms held her a bit closer.

By the time they'd reached the prison door, the screaming from the prisoner had started up again.

Rin winced at the crazed sounds and tried to hold herself from crying, as they descended the stairs, one painfully slow step at a time.

"Please! We need to hurry!"

He scoffed. "I'm not going to rush and fall down ten flights of stairs. We'll get there."

Rin slammed her head against his chest, letting out a frustrated groan.

The prisoner's screams echoed off the walls, bouncing back at her like an arsenal of madness.

Each step led them deeper into its pit of insanity, until another voice joined, one that terrified her far more than some monster in a cage.

"You have been judged and sentenced by the Fifth Kazekage of Suna. For the crimes of espionage and the vicious attack on a guest of the Sand Village, I sentence you to death. May your soul find peace in the afterlife."

Kankuro reached the final step, just as Gaara raised his fist, the sand circulating around it like a deadly twister.

"Gaara! No!" Rin screamed, throwing herself out of her escort's grasp.

She raced the final distance and wrapped her arms around him.

"Rin? What are you doing here? Go back to the hospital."

Her chest heaved up and down. "Don't do this."

His eyes searched her face and shot back to his brother, who waited with his arms crossed. "You were supposed to keep her safe. Why would you bring her here?"

Kankuro put his hands up. "She's very persuasive. You try saying 'no' when she's working her jutsu on you."

Gaara grunted. "I highly doubt it came to that. You just gave in."

The captain shrugged in reply.

Her voice drew his attention and the pain in it, broke his heart. "Gaara, please. I'm begging you."

Rin's face called to him in a way nothing else could.

She pulled away from him and placed her hands on his chest, forcing him to look at her.

The pleading in her eyes was enough to almost make him forget where he was, until the movement behind her, reminded him.

The prisoner slammed into the bars. He'd been more or less quiet before, a few frustrated screams, but nothing like how he responded when she arrived.

His hands launched out at her, fingers gripping in the air.

He grunted and bared his teeth, like a wild animal kept mere inches from its prey.

Rin jumped at the sudden crash and stumbled a bit, the medications Gaara insisted on, making her feel weak and sluggish.

She placed a hand on her head, trying to focus through the wave of dizziness begging her to lay down.

Gaara looked from her, to the crazed man and shook his head. "I'm sorry, Rin. I can't risk you. If he escapes, he'll kill you and I can't live knowing I could have protected you."

He raised his hand again, his eyes narrowing. "Sand coff..."

Rin gathered her strength and flung herself in front of the cage, her arms out wide. "If you kill him, I'll never forgive you! You won't have to worry about protecting me because you will have lost me entirely."

Gaara lowered his hand, his face a mixture of hurt and confusion. "But why? He's not your friend anymore, Rin. He's a monster, can't you see that?"

She turned to look at the prisoner, who was snapping his jaws at her.

The broken teeth made her arm hurt with the memory. His fierce expression looked so foreign on the face, which always held a smile for her.

She inhaled and tried to keep from crying. She'd cried too much lately.

Her voice came out soft, so soft he almost missed it, but her words were heavy. "Isn't that what people called you, Gaara?"

His jaw dropped, a wave of cold sweat crashing over him. "What did you just say?"

Rin's eyes looked just as hurt as he felt.

Her hands came to her heart, as if it were breaking just as much as his.

She knew the gravity of what she was saying and the pain she was inflicting, but it couldn't be helped.

She would save both their lives, even if she had to break him to do it.

"How many people were sent to kill you because that's exactly what they believed you to be? Ten? Twenty? Hundreds?"

"Rin..." Kankuro's voice was threatening, but Gaara raised up a hand to stop him.

"Go on."

She licked her lips, the salt tasting bitter on her tongue. "I don't know what was done to him to make him like this, but I want to find out. I haven't seen him in years, so it's no coincidence that he arrived at the Sand, a few days after me. This is all connected. If you kill him now, you'll risk the safety of your village."

Gaara's steely expression hadn't changed.

Rin's hands turned up, beseeching him. "But, more importantly, if you kill him out of revenge for me, you'll be losing a part of yourself too. I won't let that happen."

She took a step closer, her words meant only for the two of them. "You're too precious to me, to lose like that."

He didn't look at her, didn't trust himself to do anything, besides respond in a raspy voice. "How will you do it?"

"The same way I reached you."

"You'd have to be close to him for that to work. Touching him."

Rin nodded. "I know."

Gaara looked up at the prisoner, who slid down the bars, wild eyes still fixed on the only woman the Kazekage ever felt for.

He sighed. "You'll have one week."

"What?"

"That should be plenty of time for you to see that this idea of yours, is futile. I appreciate your concern for me and my village, but I think you'll come to see, that some monsters..."

His eyes met with the captive's, his voice low and deadly. "Are not as easy to tame as I was."

Rin's heart dropped to the floor.

She tried to lace her arms around Gaara, but he turned away from her. "Gaara, please, I didn't..."

"Good luck."

He moved to Kankuro and addressed him loud enough, so she would hear. "I want double the amount of guards here at all times. She's never to be alone with the captive, do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"Gaara!" She cried.

He stopped at the stair, but didn't turn around.

Rin's hands clasped at her chest, her heart breaking with each step he took away from her. "Thank you."

He offered one curt nod and disappeared up the staircase, with not so much as a look in her direction.

Kankuro put his hands in his pockets. "Well, you got your wish. A week isn't a long time, you better start soon. I'll go get those guards he wanted. I trust you have enough common sense to stay away from the bars until I get back?"

She nodded.

He sighed and followed his brother up the stairs.

Rin turned to look at the man, who was actively clawing at the floor of his cell.

She rested her head against the wall, a sudden wave of exhaustion taking her. "I know you aren't a demon."

He stopped scratching and his eyes flashed up at her voice.

With a running start, he flung himself at the cage and reached for her, snarling.

Rin steeled herself. "No matter how badly I want to believe you aren't who I think you are, I'd know that chakra and those eyes anywhere."

She stepped closer, but respected Kankuro's wishes and stayed out of reaching distance. "You're Haru, my Haru. I'm going to find out who did this to you and when I do, I'll make them pay."