Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Sand Blossom ❯ Red Eyes and the Sand Demon ( Chapter 9 )

Gaara trudged through Konoha as he tried to erase the memories of what he had just seen. Every time that Sasuke spoke, he felt Shukaku eating at away at him. As Sakura began to cry, Gaara felt her tears as they rolled down her face. The fact that Sasuke had made her feel so much sorrow for the last 3 years, made him sick inside.

 

And when he touched her… got closer to her… Gaara had to restrain himself from coming out of hiding and crushing Sasuke with his bare hands. After that, Sakura seemed to melt into his arms; Obviously…she wanted him to touch her…

 

Affection… love… that is what Sakura had expressed for Sasuke this night. Gaara thought it through; what Kankuro had told him, the way that Temari reacted to her thoughts of her beloved, Sakura's words, Sasuke's effect on her… they way she thought of him… she loved him. And so… Gaara had come to the village gate; he looked up and saw how tall it was as he looked into the nigh sky. She could not possibly feel for me, the same way I have come to feel for her.

 

He pushed his hand forward and opened the gate. He steeped outside and closed the gate, hoping that he had left all of the pain behind… but as we all know… not all memories are buried so easily. He turned around and came face to face with the source of his pain… the trigger to his cannon of rage.

 

“Gaara… I never thought I'd see you around here.” The dark figure spoke.

 

“I don't plan to stay any longer. Get out of my way… before I crush you.” Gaara's eyes narrowed in on his target. The wind blew past them, but then an irregular gust blew in the opposite direction.

 

“You're in no position to make threats Gaara. Just what were you doing here?” The figure had no intention of letting Gaara pass any time soon, he slid his hands in his pockets and waited for a response.

 

Gaara's sand began to move… but not in its usual fashion. It shifted and turned inside his gourd, the quark popped out and it started leaking all over the ground. “With the mood I'm in, I will gladly destroy you and Konoha! So get out of my way…” The figure came into the moonlight, “…Uchiha!!”

 

True enough, Sasuke stood barely 15 feet away from the Sand ninja, he took a fighting stance and glared at his opponent, “Thanks for the threat, now I have a reason to kill you.”

 

Gaara's demon blood came to a boil, “You can try.”

 

In the next instant, Sasuke had disappeared as he ran at Gaara. Gaara's sand acted on instinct and shielded him from behind when Sasuke reappeared and tried to punch him in the back of the head. Sasuke let out a smirk as he slid past Gaara's sand and flashed in front of him fast enough to deliver a straight punch that hurled Gaara to the ground creating several cracks in his Sand Armor.

 

Sasuke straightened up and cracked his knuckles, “Gladly.”

 

Gaara looked back up with a glare and jolted his fist up in a sorry attempt to hit Sasuke from 6 feet away.

 

“Hmph, is that all you can to do?” Sasuke caught Gaara's eyes twitch, and suddenly met with a sand fist that was 10 times the normal size of regular fast. Sasuke spun in the air and crashed into the dirt as Gaara's sand fell back to the ground by its master's command.

 

Sasuke struggled some to get up and looked down in horror as Gaara's sand suddenly grabbed his legs and consumed his entire body. Sasuke grunted as the Sand Coffin was completely sealed around his body. Gaara then struck out his hand and tilted it slightly; a bloodlust was in his eyes, “Sand Burial!!” Gaara clenched his fist thereby crushing Sasuke within his Sand Coffin.

 

Contrary to Gaara's expectations though, he did not see any blood oozing from the Uchiha's corpse. The sand quickly moved out of the way to reveal a log! “A substitution!” Gaara quickly looked around to find Sasuke but he couldn't see him.

 

All of a sudden, Gaara heard the oddly familiar sound of birds, “Not at this time of night! Sasuke!”

 

“Raaaaaaaahhhhhh!!” Sasuke leapt down from a tree 20 feet behind Gaara, Chidori sparkling in his hand. Sasuke rammed his hand to the ground and the force of his chakra created a huge crater wherever his arm went. Sasuke ran at Gaara at top speed and had the killer instinct in his eyes that made him an Avenger, his Sharingan eyes spun wildly as he cornered Gaara with his Jutsu.

 

Gaara wasted no time in making a line of hand seals followed by his hands rising gradually into the air as if lifting something in midair, “Last Absolute Defense: Shield of Shukaku!”

 

Sand and minerals rose out of the ground and began forming a toy-like replica of Shukaku. Combined with Gaara's chakra, this shield would be virtually indestructible! Sasuke was convinced that his Chidori could break through the “Absolute Defense”, so he continued and thrust his hand into the sand shield, some of it being crushed by the initial damage of Sasuke's Chidori.

 

The Shukaku doll engulfed Sasuke's hand and even began to look like a jack o lantern as the Chidori rattled inside of its thick sand body. Sasuke grinned as he watched Gaara getting closer and closer to his Chidori and not moving an inch. Suddenly, he felt his hand stop. His face went into full shock as he felt his chakra diminishing, “What? No!” Sasuke struggled to get his hand out when he noticed that the doll was becoming wet and soggy. He turned his attention to Gaara who had just finished making a hand seal.

 

“Quicksand Waterfall!” The Shukaku Defense along with more sand from the ground reached up into the sky and surrounded Sasuke, closing off any means of escape. Sasuke tugged and tore at his arm to get out of the remaining form of the doll, which now looked like a Gaara sand clone. His eyes stared wildly around him as the sand began to fall around him; he raised his hand into the air and yelled, “Thousand Bird Current!” His body was encircled by electricity just as the sand came down and drowned him.

 

The waterfall covered a rather large area as it settled, but there was no sign of Sasuke. Gaara walked atop the field of sand that he created and searched tentatively for his prey. The sand shifted as Sasuke `swam' to the surface in a way. Pulling himself out of the sand pit, he spat and gagged out as much sand and blood as he could. Even though he had done his Thousand Bird Current to defend him, the pressure underneath meters of sand was too much. Sasuke kneeled over and expelled the sand from his stomach; he had accidentally swallowed some due to its watery form.

 

A shadow soon loomed over him, he turned slightly to behold Gaara's growling face. “Uchiha………will you die in peace?” The sand around Sasuke's body swiftly grabbed him and sealed him once more in the Sand Coffin. Sasuke could barely concentrate as it was, spitting out more blood and sand as the coffin squeezed him. The sand stood Sasuke up and placed him in front of Gaara, who stared emotionlessly into his face.

 

“Burn and die, Gaara -gag-.” Sasuke defiantly said.

 

Gaara's eyes widened as he commanded the coffin to get tighter and tighter around Sasuke's body. The Uchiha felt his life fading, the coffin threatened to suffocate him. With his last bit of breath he etched out… “S-Sakura.” His eyes rolled into his head as he lost consciousness.

 

Gaara's eyes froze, “Sakura?” The sand coffin immediately collapsed and Sasuke's body fell on the ground. Gaara gripped his head again, and ran his hands through his red hair. Uhh… what's wrong with me…? This isn't Shukaku! It's something else… But what?!

 

An image of Sakura ran through Gaara's mind. Gaara's eyes and face strained themselves until he finally stopped and held still… Sakura… if I kill Sasuke, I'll only cause you more pain and suffering won't I? Is this, what it's like to care? To stop yourself from doing something that will hurt someone you hold dear? Gaara looked down at Sasuke and looked away, He has suffered enough. And so has Sakura. I won't be responsible for her tears the way he is.

 

With that Gaara turned and left the unconscious Uchiha lying in the sand. Gaara walked nearly into the forest when a kunai suddenly landed in front of him. Impossible! He is nearly dead! He can't-! Gaara turned around to find that Sasuke was still on the ground, but further behind him Sakura stood with three kunai in her right hand.

 

With a stern look she faced him down, “Don't move a muscle.”

 

 

TO BE CONTINUED…

 

 

Kiraichi: A special thank you to all of the people who have been reading and reviewing on my fan fic! Thank you ssooooo much! -bow- to all! The story is about to wrap up so stay tuned. Ha ha ha!! -thumbs up and ching-