[post-midnight, 3/15]
In Johnny's sleep, his fingers were nervously working, scrabbling to tear the rope wrapped around his wrist. His other hand had another purpose as it took the binding in its fingers and laid it across the neck of the girl sleeping next to him. She jerked awake at the contact, sitting up--he passed his hand over her head, snaking the rope back around her neck, then grasped the end connected to her hand and pulled. A startled cry was cut short as the wind ninja was choked of air.
She struggled, but soon enough the thrashing stopped and her limbs fell down, her head tilting back to loll in the air. He smiled--as much as Awaker ever smiled--and lowered her back down to the pillows. Placed a hand on her neck, admiring the bruise already beginning to marble her skin, and felt the dying heartbeat. Before it could fade completely, he leaned down and kissed her, nipping the bottom lip before he focused on planting the seed of Malice within her.
He pulled away and watched as her body jerked once more with a flood of energy; the bruising lightened, she breathed in deep, and her eyes focused as the irises filled with the red tint of blood. She screamed again, and this time he let her, kept her hands pinned beneath him but didn't bother to halt the sound. The air grew thick with sand and they both turned their heads to the doorway where Gaara stood. In the darkness of the night, the pupils widened in shock, black rims narrowing in fury, his eyes looked like black holes to Johnny--and he laughed--"Do you know what I did, Gaara? You know what she is?" even as the sand rushed to kill--
Johnny woke from the nightmare with a jerk, his furiously scratching fingernails missing the rope and tearing into his wrist. He winced at the pain and then timidly turned his head to look at Temari's side of the bed. The kunoichi seemed to be sleeping peacefully, and he relaxed a small, tiny bit, until the sand demon's words about his nightmares being premonitions returned in full force and he curled into a ball, his hands cradling his head as sleeplessness and fear and Malice combined to create a pounding headache.
I'm not going to hurt anyone, he told himself--but he knew it was a hollow promise because he'd hurt before and nothing had changed since then, he still had that monster inside. All it would take is one misstep and the nightmares could come true, every last one of them.
Calm down, calm down, except he couldn't, couldn't. He had to be alone, had to hurt something, but he couldn't when he was chained to Temari, and his hands pressed tighter and tighter against the side of his head, futilely attempting to push the Malice down, until he realized--
He couldn't feel the rope pressing against his head. Johnny's eyes opened and he brought his bare wrist up to his face, looking over his entire arm as if expecting to see the rope had merely slipped down. But no, it was gone; somehow, it had disappeared completely. He almost would have laughed in relief, but he was too busy rolling out of bed and to his feet, padding softly out of the room after he quickly slipped some clothes on. Finally, to be alone; he'd get out of Konoha, and then...then...
South of Amegakure. The phrase kept repeating in his mind softly but insistently: Shukaku was somewhere south of Amegakure. It was Shukaku's fault he kept having the nightmares, the headaches; Shukaku's fault he couldn't sleep. The sand demon had hurt Gaara and Matsuri; taunting Gaara that he'd never change and Johnny that he'd become a monster, and now he was threatening Shania--and the thought of repaying even a small fraction of that hurt and fear send a pleasant thrill through the teenager's body, so hot and swift that it left what little calmness he had left shaken. The more he entertained the notion, the better it sounded; no one would miss that monster.
"South of Amegakure..." he murmured aloud, a sharp grin twisting his lips as he let the Malice in his body unseal itself.
***
[Locked to Shukaku, Gaara; unhackable]
Gaara. Interested in repaying a favor?
I'm looking for Shukaku.
She struggled, but soon enough the thrashing stopped and her limbs fell down, her head tilting back to loll in the air. He smiled--as much as Awaker ever smiled--and lowered her back down to the pillows. Placed a hand on her neck, admiring the bruise already beginning to marble her skin, and felt the dying heartbeat. Before it could fade completely, he leaned down and kissed her, nipping the bottom lip before he focused on planting the seed of Malice within her.
He pulled away and watched as her body jerked once more with a flood of energy; the bruising lightened, she breathed in deep, and her eyes focused as the irises filled with the red tint of blood. She screamed again, and this time he let her, kept her hands pinned beneath him but didn't bother to halt the sound. The air grew thick with sand and they both turned their heads to the doorway where Gaara stood. In the darkness of the night, the pupils widened in shock, black rims narrowing in fury, his eyes looked like black holes to Johnny--and he laughed--"Do you know what I did, Gaara? You know what she is?" even as the sand rushed to kill--
Johnny woke from the nightmare with a jerk, his furiously scratching fingernails missing the rope and tearing into his wrist. He winced at the pain and then timidly turned his head to look at Temari's side of the bed. The kunoichi seemed to be sleeping peacefully, and he relaxed a small, tiny bit, until the sand demon's words about his nightmares being premonitions returned in full force and he curled into a ball, his hands cradling his head as sleeplessness and fear and Malice combined to create a pounding headache.
I'm not going to hurt anyone, he told himself--but he knew it was a hollow promise because he'd hurt before and nothing had changed since then, he still had that monster inside. All it would take is one misstep and the nightmares could come true, every last one of them.
Calm down, calm down, except he couldn't, couldn't. He had to be alone, had to hurt something, but he couldn't when he was chained to Temari, and his hands pressed tighter and tighter against the side of his head, futilely attempting to push the Malice down, until he realized--
He couldn't feel the rope pressing against his head. Johnny's eyes opened and he brought his bare wrist up to his face, looking over his entire arm as if expecting to see the rope had merely slipped down. But no, it was gone; somehow, it had disappeared completely. He almost would have laughed in relief, but he was too busy rolling out of bed and to his feet, padding softly out of the room after he quickly slipped some clothes on. Finally, to be alone; he'd get out of Konoha, and then...then...
South of Amegakure. The phrase kept repeating in his mind softly but insistently: Shukaku was somewhere south of Amegakure. It was Shukaku's fault he kept having the nightmares, the headaches; Shukaku's fault he couldn't sleep. The sand demon had hurt Gaara and Matsuri; taunting Gaara that he'd never change and Johnny that he'd become a monster, and now he was threatening Shania--and the thought of repaying even a small fraction of that hurt and fear send a pleasant thrill through the teenager's body, so hot and swift that it left what little calmness he had left shaken. The more he entertained the notion, the better it sounded; no one would miss that monster.
"South of Amegakure..." he murmured aloud, a sharp grin twisting his lips as he let the Malice in his body unseal itself.
***
[Locked to Shukaku, Gaara; unhackable]
Gaara. Interested in repaying a favor?
I'm looking for Shukaku.