Return Of The Madness

Chapter 30

The day of Yuma's spar with Gaara was bright, several days following her trial. Gaara graciously hosted Yuma and her team in his home to ensure the villagers of Sunagakure wouldn't try anything. While they respected the Kazekage's decision, it was clear that none of the villagers were happy about it.

The dual was originally to be held in a training ground generally used by older nin, but the duo decided eventually to hold the event just outside the village; again to satiate the villagers that clearly wanted Yuma gone as soon as possible. With that, the group would be leaving as soon as the fight was over. 

A gentle, hot wind blew sand gracefully through the air betwixt the two opponents.

Yuma, her mismatched eyes bright and focused as she gazed at Gaara, standing cool and collected ten feet away.

"Don't be too hurt when you lose, Panda-chan!" She chirped, raising a fist into the air as she stood buzzing in excitement.

The Kage spared a slight smirk, arms crossed. "That won't be a problem."

Their teams stood off to the side a ways, with the exception of Baki as he stepped between the two, speaking seriously. "Alright you two, this is a spar, so the fight will end when one of you either admits defeat, or the other is unable to continue. Are you ready?"

"You betcha!"

"Yes."

"Alright... Begin!"

Yuma charged forward, grinning widely as her hands opened wide, almost claws. Gaara, however, remained firmly in place, sand swaying and swirling at his feet. Yuma was on her opponent in moments, a mere charcoal blur to the average eye. Clawed hand back, she swung with incredible speed and force. Immediately, a thick wall of sand rose, shielding Gaara with more than enough time... but not enough strength.

Seafoam eyes widened  slightly as the small, pale hand broke through, slowed significantly by his defense, but Gaara barely managed to dodge the swing, and lept back several meters to put sufficient distance between the two of them. However,  Yuma was hot on his tail, still grinning widely. 

"Don't underestimate me!" She roared, leaping up and punching downward at her friend's face. Another, much stronger wall of sand rose, stopping her fist and climbing up her arm as a distraction to give Gaara plenty of time to evade and come up with a new plan. 

Admittedly, he wasn't fighting with all his strength, he'd made the mistake of thinking Yuma still needed time to recover from the injuries she'd sustained over the weeks. He should've known better, as he was now at a disadvantage. 

It took Yuma less time than he'd like to shatter the sand wall with a forceful kick, but Gaara had at least gotten a short time to prepare for her advance, and moved forward himself as well. He would get nowhere allowing her to attack first. He send wave after wave of sand clouds her way to both distract her, and hopefully give himself the opportunity for a surprise attack. 

As Yuma barrelled through the clouds like a wild hog, Gaara used some sand under his feet to propel himself upwards, sailing over her head while her vision was impaired. He turned as soon as his feet touched the sand behind her, only to lunge to the side as her small fist nearly introduced itself to his nose. 

Yuma laughed gleefully as she pursued him,  happily barrelling through wall after wall of sand. "You can't win if you only run!" she yelled, breaking through another wall to find... nothing. "Huh?" She quickly scanned her surroundings, only seeing her team cheering for her on the sidelines, and Gaara's team. 

Pressure quickly started engulfing her legs, and she looked down just as the sand around her ankles pulled her swiftly down, leaving her neck deep in the sandy ground. She spat a few times, as the wind was content to give her a taste of what Suna had to offer, and a shadow appeared over her. She glared up at Gaara with a huff to see him with his arms crossed once again, looking rather smug. 

"You seem to enjoy running into distractions," the young Kage observed. "You wouldn't be here if you had dodge my-" His dry mockery was interrupted as her hand reached through the sand, and her intense strength brought him down to her level, much to his surprise. "What-" again he was cut off, this time by her forehead colliding with his own painfully. 

"You only compacted the sand around my legs to keep me down here," Yuma smirked. "And then you stood close enough for me to reach."

In the distance, both Naruto and Kankuro were laughing hysterically at the rather lack-luster ending. As Yuma grinned at Gaara, he sighed, shoulders relaxing. The sand surrounding him shifted, bringing him back above the surface, and he took a cautious step back out of reached. 

"I guess you win this one, Panda-chan," Yuma laughed. "I still can't move, but this just means we're tied, so in a few more years, let's have a tie-breaker!"

Gaara spared the slightest smile, moving his sand to return Yuma to her feet before him. "I can't wait for that day, Yuma-chan."

He was surprised as she stepped forward, hugging him tightly. 

"Thank you for helping me, Panda-chan," Yuma muttered into her stunned friend's ear. "I'll miss you guys, so you have to visit soon, okay?"

"... of course."

Yuma felt his hand land on her head, ruffling her hair gently. She pulled away, smiled at her friend again, then hurried to his team to say her goodbyes to them as well.

Temari and Kankuro made sure to wave at Team 7 as they walked away from Sunagakure.

"That was a great fight, Yuma-chan!" Naruto laughed. "The ending was so funny!"

"It was really fun to watch," Sakura agreed, giggling. "It's a shame that we had to leave so soon, Sunagakure is really beautiful."

"It really is," Yuma smiled, "but I'm ready to be home."

A heavy arm fell over her shoulder as Kakashi hugged her to his side. "Home is ready to see you too, Kiddo."

Yuma leaned her head against his shoulder.