Naruto: Residue of Control
Fandom: Naruto
Characters: Gaara
Rating/Status: G / 214 words, complete
Timeline: After manga ch.281/vol.31-32, several months after.
Summary: Gaara remembers too well.
Author's Note: For naruto_contest, theme: Control. I'm kind of dissatisfied with the way this came out. :\ I envisioned it being, well... better.
Residue of Control
by Téa P.
He snaps awake abruptly, almost violently, hands clenched at his sides, eyes wide and breath constricted painfully in his chest.
Somewhere outside his window, a door shuts and he hears the sound of footsteps grow louder, then soft as its owner moves further down the street, until finally, there is no sound at all.
His heart continues to pound, a roar in all that silence inside his head - huge, rolling stretches of nothing, as disconcerting as it is a relief. The moment passes, the panic passes. And he breathes.
Six months, two weeks, and four days since it's been gone.
He keeps count, reminds himself he's in control.
Six months, two weeks, and one day since he stopped being able to stay awake. Stopped needing to, Temari told him.
He keeps count, but doesn't remind himself there isn't anything to take that control away. He can still remember the way it slips and spirals out of him wildly, leaving a stench of blood in his wake.
There is no blood now. Just silence.
Gaara closes his eyes, lets the tension go, and leans back against the grainy wall.
His bed sits across the room, pillows and blanket neatly tucked in place. Eventually, its crisp sheets will soften with use.
But not today. Not yet.
/End
Endnotes: Gaara without Shukaku makes me sad for some reason. I'm probably in the minority, but I still haven't decided if it's necessarily a good thing that Shukaku has been extracted from Gaara. :\
Characters: Gaara
Rating/Status: G / 214 words, complete
Timeline: After manga ch.281/vol.31-32, several months after.
Summary: Gaara remembers too well.
Author's Note: For naruto_contest, theme: Control. I'm kind of dissatisfied with the way this came out. :\ I envisioned it being, well... better.
Residue of Control
by Téa P.
He snaps awake abruptly, almost violently, hands clenched at his sides, eyes wide and breath constricted painfully in his chest.
Somewhere outside his window, a door shuts and he hears the sound of footsteps grow louder, then soft as its owner moves further down the street, until finally, there is no sound at all.
His heart continues to pound, a roar in all that silence inside his head - huge, rolling stretches of nothing, as disconcerting as it is a relief. The moment passes, the panic passes. And he breathes.
Six months, two weeks, and four days since it's been gone.
He keeps count, reminds himself he's in control.
Six months, two weeks, and one day since he stopped being able to stay awake. Stopped needing to, Temari told him.
He keeps count, but doesn't remind himself there isn't anything to take that control away. He can still remember the way it slips and spirals out of him wildly, leaving a stench of blood in his wake.
There is no blood now. Just silence.
Gaara closes his eyes, lets the tension go, and leans back against the grainy wall.
His bed sits across the room, pillows and blanket neatly tucked in place. Eventually, its crisp sheets will soften with use.
But not today. Not yet.
/End
Endnotes: Gaara without Shukaku makes me sad for some reason. I'm probably in the minority, but I still haven't decided if it's necessarily a good thing that Shukaku has been extracted from Gaara. :\