Hurricane [Gaara]

Chapter 9

Gaara made his way into the Konoha Hospital, clearly not in the right state of mind. He moved through the shadows undetected to his destination. The ninja waited for Sakura to leave Rock Lee's bedside. The Genin hadn't regained consciousness since the Preliminary Exam. Once gone, he stalked into the room. Gaara gripped his head in pain, memories from their match rushing to the surface. What Gai said. The memory taunted the boy. Those emotions the man expressed towards his student. Gaara couldn't understand it.

Flashbacks from his childhood ran rampant in his mind. A stark contrast to the love and devotion that Rock Lee experienced. The sand crawling around the Genin's body. To deliver the final blow. His breaths were ragged, a crazed look in his eyes. The demon wanted nothing more but to crush its prey on the spot. It'd been denied this opportunity before.

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Azmaria halted on a rooftop to scan the city of Konoha from this vantage point. "Master Gaara!" she called out. She found no signs of the redhead. The demon played a nasty trick, whisking Gaara away without warning, and trapping her in the room for a good five minutes. It gave him plenty of time to put distance between the Soldier and Master.

"He's getting too close," she muttered. "If I was Master Gaara... where would I go...?"

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Seconds before the Sand Ninja closed his fist, Gaara made an odd discovery, "I... can't move my body..."

A yell sounded from behind. Gaara barely saw Naruto come in for an attack. The Genin punched the Sand Ninja, throwing him backwards. Unfortunately for the ninja who halted the enemy's movements from a distance felt the hit on his part too.

"What the heck do you think you're doing in here, you rat?" Naruto yelled.

"Hey, man go easy," Shikamaru ordered. His free hand rubbed at the sore cheek. "I'm using my Shadow Possession Jutsu, so when you bash him, you're bashing me too! You got it?"

"Oh, sorry, Shikamaru." The Sand Armor cracked, falling to the floor. Gaara's gaze trained on the blonde boy, his emotionless look masking his true intentions once more. "Out with it, what were you trying to pull?" Naruto questioned. The redhead remained silent. "Well? Are you going to tell us what you were going to do?"

"I was going to kill him," Gaara answered honestly. The fact that he spoke in such a nonchalant manner creeped out the Leaf Ninjas.

"W-What?" Naturo didn't think he heard right.

"You already beat him once in the competition," Shikamaru stated. "What's your problem? Wasn't that enough for you? Do you have some personal grudge against him or something?"

"I have nothing against him... It's nothing that complicated. I simply want to kill him, that's all."

"You know what, you're sick in the head!" Naruto shouted. "You're crazy!"

"Yeah," Shikamaru agreed. "You think we're just going to stand by and let you do whatever you want, you sick, selfish psycho?"

"If you don't stay out of my way, I'll have to kill you as well," Gaara added. Their threats didn't intimidate him in the slightest.

"Oh really? Well let's see you try it!" Naruto fell back into a fighting stance.

"Hey, whoa, kid! Take it easy!" The sound of a fight against the Sand Ninja sent Shikamaru on edge. He thought they'd get an adult involved, not handle the situation themselves. "Yeah, yeah, we watched your last match. We know you're tough. But you know, Naruto and I have a few little tricks up our sleeves as well. We were holding back during the competition. There are things you haven't seen yet and we've been training. On top of that, it's two against one. So don't be a fool, okay? Just take my advance and go. Quietly."