The Forest of Death - 8

The Cloud ninja attacked again, this time in a different formation. Kankuro ran ahead, preparing for the worst as the Kumo nin scattered a huge net of wire over the scrub field, entangling trees and the Sand team.

Miosuke hadn't been expecting it, and tugged frantically upon realizing his boomerang had been snagged in the worst of the copper-wire knot, "Shit! Kankuro! A little help here please!"

"This is your doing you moron!" His puppet was out, slicing at wires, but Kankuro paused in his work, noting that severing the wrong wires would only tighten the trap's grip on them. The Cloud nin circled in wait, eyes hungry for a slaughter.

Temari had the more direct approach. Her iron fan opened, revealing three moons, and she slashed with a frustrated cry, freeing herself from the tangle, astounding the offended Kumo team. Two of them were at her a moment later, one wielding a short sword and the other a scythe. She was more than a match for them, but the male portion of her team was still stuck.

Gaara could only watch, numbed and unable to move.

The last of the waiting Cloud nin turned his attention to the struggling of Miosuke and Kankuro, still caught up in the snare they had laid out. "Hey," His eyes were set on Miosuke, "Tell me something…"

The mousy antagonist glared indignantly, and hating karma.

"How does a piece of bread feel after it's put in a toaster?"

"Crap..." Kankuro muttered under his breath, withdrawing Karasu only moments before an electrical jutsu ran through the copper wires, giving him and Miosuke a powerful shock that singed the tips of their hair.

Temari was wide-eyed and overwhelmed. If half of her team was finished, then she wasn't far behind. She gave a fierce wallop to the head of the nin swiping at her with the sword: an instant knockout. The other, unfortunately, was faster than she and landing more blows.

Something in Gaara's head clicked then: some sort of subliminal signal to take action, even though he had no business being there to begin with. He was still obligated by a resounding memory forever imprinted in his blood.

He could finally move.

Kunai shot forward, connecting with the two remaining Kumo nin. They ducked back in a panicked shock, removing the knives, as a red haired ninja appeared on the side of the field with crazed eyes. Temari stood very still, unsure of what was going on, and whether the newcomer was singularly after the Cloud team.

A wave of sand crashed down, knocking back the Cloud ninja with thunderous force. They reasserted their wits and countered together, one leaping over Gaara and the other going for a low, finishing blow to the gut.

The knives rained down in unison, slashing Gaara to pieces, or rather, the sand clone he had substituted himself with. They skidded to a halt and turned back, running to their fallen teammate as sand closed in from all around them: the air, ground and clone that they had shredded.

Gaara stood at the center of the clearing, his shaking hand raised in anticipation as he levitated the individuals trapped in their respective sand coffins. They were crying in fear. Kankuro and Miosuke had come to, and watched in confusion as the unknown shinobi closed his fist, crushing the Cloud ninja into nothing more than a short drizzle of blood.

Temari shielded her face from the red rain, horrified.

Maybe she and her teammates were next?

Kankuro and Miosuke scrambled to free themselves as the mysterious red haired shinobi stood in silence. Temari didn't make a move to help them, fearing to provoke the sand manipulator.

Sand.

'He can control...sand?' Her heart missed a beat as her fan folded over. Temari took a hesitant step, wondering if there was even the faintest most minuscule of possibilities that the boy she was looking at could be her…

"I missed you." Gaara's confession was the lowest of whispers. It coaxed Temari closer after hearing it. Somehow she knew, and she was sure that, as he tripped over the ruined wires in shock, that Kankuro knew as well.

He was aware that staying and speaking to them would only lead to disaster, 'Not here. Not now.'

But he would. Gaara would mend his broken past; mend the wound in his heart that was the absence of his flesh and blood.

The Sand team stood motionless and would've missed Gaara's escape via whirlwind had they blinked.

Gaara returned to the stream and washed the blood from his face, reciting the names of his brother and sister until the words were well-practiced on his lips. He would've felt ecstatically happy to see them had they not been on an enemy team.

The shock was wearing off by the time he had collected the water rations he had left there and returned to his teammates, who he suddenly had a new urgency to protect.

*

Night had fallen and Sakura sat in a dazed stupor beside her teammates.

They had been preparing to settle down for the evening, late that afternoon, wanting to celebrate their defeat of a team of Rain ninja who they had successfully ambushed for their Heaven Scroll.

When they had stopped to rest was when the Grass nin appeared.

She shivered at the memory, remembering how close of a battle it had been. In fact, it had been no contest really. The Kusa nin had been alone but he had nearly killed them all.

'He called himself Orochimaru...' Sakura rested her chin on her knees, hugging them to her chest, 'What did he want with Sasuke-kun?'

She hadn't a clue. And to make matters even worse, was that they had handed over their Heaven Scroll, believing that at the time to be what he was after. He burned it on the spot, to their horror, and then attacked again. Sakura considered it to be a miracle that they were still alive.

Sasuke lay beside her, completely drained from the fight and sported an odd mark on his neck where he had been bitten by the rogue ninja. Kiba slept uncomfortably on her opposite side, also low on chakra reserves, and with a wounded arm after he had been ambushed by a terrifyingly large snake.

Akamaru sat whimpering next to him, licking his face. With a sigh, Sakura pulled the small dog into her arms, "Not now Akamaru, he needs to rest. They'll be okay. I'll look after them." The dog whined in response.

The pink haired girl closed her eyes briefly, but they snapped open a moment later. She knew that she had to keep alert. Falling asleep would leave them open to an ambush, although she believed she had done a good job of hiding her team in a gap of roots below a large tree. Their discovery would lead to trouble and she was in no condition to fight.

Sakura watched vigilantly with Akamaru, praying for the morning to come.

*

"Nyah..." Naruto rolled over, blinking the sleep from his blue eyes. He bumped into someone.

Gaara looked down at him, expressionless. The dark circles beneath his eyes were more pronounced, as if he had been up for an excruciatingly long time.

The blonde sat up and stretched, feeling his mouth automatically curve into a well-rested smile.

"Hey, what's up?" Naruto's speech was slurred through his yawn.

"You and Haku-kun were nearly killed when you fought that Grass ninja, remember?" Gaara sighed, hoping he would at least recall that much of what had transpired.

The boy's cerulean eyes lit up with the memory, "Oh yeah that's right! Er...how long was I out?"

"Two days."

"TWO DAYS?" Naruto was flabbergasted and wished that it was all a joke. Gaara, he knew, seldom joked about anything, especially serious matters like these.

After a moment of horrified rambling, the blonde doubled over in pain, clawing at his stomach. Gaara's eyes narrowed at the sight, wondering if maybe his teammates had been injured after all, 'It isn't as if I can detect internal injuries.'

The Kyuubi container's stomach whined loudly and he frowned at Gaara, "Ugh...I'm starving. I can't believe it's been that long since the fight!"

The red haired boy dismissed his theory on Naruto having any internal injuries, "We barely have any food left and we're saving it for Haku-kun."

"Oh fine, but you could've-" Naruto's eyes flickered curiously to the still-sleeping form of Haku beside him and guilt washed over his face, "Is he alright?"

"No." Gaara glanced over to the dark haired boy as well, "He had a high fever for over a day, but it seems he's overcome it. Though he hasn't woken once."