Silver Sand (Gaara Love Story)

Chapter 11

"We're here!"  Nioi said as she collapsed.  Kinniku walked over to her and licked her over the ear.

"You did good, little one, you did good."  She said as Nioi let out a small purr.  Sakura yelled something out at Naruto. 

"Sakura, who the hell is he?"  Naruto asked as he pointed at a red head. 

“That has to be that guy that the girl over there was carrying.”  Nioi said as she limped over to Sasuke. 

*"This should be the quickest way, but I don't know if we can get to him in time."  She said as everyone except Naruto followed instantly.  Naruto began to follow after a sigh.  "The people in the lead have stopped, but the boy with the girl looks like someone I should know."  She said as she tried to think of the name.  "Wait, it's not someone that I should know, but someone that you should know."  She said as she cocked her head towards me.

"Does he have love tattooed on his forehead?"  I tried to conceal my pain from the other leopards and shared a nervous look with Bibu. 

"Are you okay?"  She asked as she jumped next to me.  I nodded my head weakly. 

"Wait, the boy’s standing up, something looks wrong with him."  She began to squint and then let out a sound that sounded half way between a gasp and a snarl.  "He just hit the girl against a tree with one hit from his shoulder!"  Her jumps seem to become frantic.  My nails dug into my palms as my fists clenched into fists.  A drop of crimson blood fell out of my hands.*

I tried to hide my emotions from Bibu as I walked towards her.  “Is that the boy that you know?”  She eyed me critically.  Ignoring her, I began to make hand signs.  “Well?”  The leopard pressed impatiently. 

“You can take a rest, you two.”  I slammed my hands down in front of Kinniku and Nioi. 

In a puff of smoke, the two leopards disappeared.  Gaara yelled something out before charging at Sasuke.  Without thinking, my body leapt to Sasuke’s aid.  Gaara hesitated for a moment but then hit me away with one of his deformed arms.  Sand began to pour out of his arm.  The sand wrapped around me as Gaara took his arm away from me. 

The necklace that I had been saving started to slip from around my neck.  Before I could cry out for the necklace, it slipped and was caught easily in Bibu’s mouth.  Naruto picked up Sasuke and moved him away from Gaara.  Bibu appeared next to his side when he placed Sasuke down gently. 

“Naruto, get this around Gaara’s neck.  It’ll protect you while you wear it and will bring Gaara back if you can put it around his neck.”  Bibu managed to cough out as smoke began to gather around her feet.  With a pop, the large cat disappeared and the necklace she had been holding was sitting where she had been standing. 

Gaara's PoV

My body lunged at Sasuke at Shikaku’s willing.  The image of Hachi flashed in front of me before Shikaku was able to overpower me.  A large, deformed arm rammed into the image and wrapped around her in her shocked stage. 

Her head began to slump slightly, making the necklace she was wearing begin to slip off from around her head.  Anger tore through me when I tried to reach out to catch it but found Shikaku shifting my body away from Hachi in general.  The leopard caught the necklace and appeared next to Naruto.  Smoke began to form around the animal’s feet as it seemed to instruct the blonde. 

The speech was muffled from Shikaku’s control, but I managed to make out a few words: “Naruto,” “Gaara’s neck,” “protect,” “bring Gaara,” and “neck.”  The smoke took over the leopard and it disappeared, the necklace in its place.  At the disappearance of the cat, I clutched at my head, trying to take control again and keep Hachi safe.