Yuki's P.o.V.
Mere words cannot describe how happy I was to win my fight against Ayame. Secretly, I was very glad she decided to make her bold move - I was quickly running out of chakra from using Kohaku, my ice dragon. I could pick out Himeko and Ryo's voices cheering for me as I had remained in the centre in of marred battleground. Yuki, Yuki, Yuki! They were saying. I even caught myself smiling at the crowd.
Standing on the observation platform with the others, I rubbed off the blood the was caked on my face. Ayame's friends from Konoha congratulated her for a good match and tried to sympathise with her, but I think that would have only made her angrier.
"Quiet, all of you," she had suddenly barked, approaching the railing next to me. "I'm trying to listen. Shino, isn't your match next?"
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as Shino, a boy with no distinguishing features in a grey high-collared jacket with circular sunglasses, nodded. I remembered from the chart he was supposed to fight Kankuro, then Temari would square up with Shikamaru. And after that . . .
Gaara. I looked all around. Sasuke wasn't there. I made a side-glance at Gaara, trying to analyse him. Could he have killed Sasuke before the match? Would he have been able to defeat and Uchiha? Did Sasuke confront him like Dosu had and Gaara took it upon himself to eliminate him?
"What are you thinking?" Surprisingly not Ayame, but the infamously lazy and most likely dim-witted ninja of the Leaf, Nara Shikamaru, asked. "Don't think I don't see the gears turning in your head. Spill." I directed my eyes forward again, gazing across the scarred landscape.
"Nothing," I answered.
"Hey, proctor!" A loud, harsh voice called from our platform. We all looked toward the source and saw Kankuro waving his hand around. "I give up. Please continue to the next match." Boos from the crowd showed plainly their disapproval. I could feel Shino behind me tense.
"Oh, man, you've gotta be kidding me!" Shikamaru groaned. "That means my match is next. Man, that's so troublesome." He doubled over on the railing in self-pity. "And on top of everything, my opponent's a girl."
Temari, her large fan in hand and a smirk on her face, jumped down from the balcony. Her fan spread out before her and she jumped on it, allowing it to soar her right to the proctor.
"You can do it, Shikamaru!" Naruto cheered, patting on Shikamaru's back just a bit too hard as Shikamaru toppled over the railing and fell into the ring. He just kind of lied there for a while. I wondered why Kankuro pulled out of the match.
"Hey," Ayame's voice said, but not to me. I turned and saw her talking to Kankuro, who looked annoyed. "Why'd you pull out of the match?"
"None of your business, brat," he scoffed. Ayame nodded in my direction, though not at me.
"It's just that my friend really wanted to fight you."
"Life ain't fair, kid. Beat it."
"All right," Ayame said, holding up her hands in mock-defense. "Maybe I'll just talk to Gaara."
"Ayame, come here," I said, straightening my posture. When she gave me a questioning look, I narrowed my eyes. Gaara was not someone she wanted to annoy, she had to see that. She stalked in my direction. "Don't bother with them."
"Gaara was my friend," she said in a hushed voice, inspecting Shikamaru's match as her friend had receded into the shadows. "From a long time ago. No wonder he doesn't remember, but I want him to know who I am."
"Huh?" Naruto asked in a whiny voice, wanting to be let in on the conversation. "Ayame, I don't get it. What do you mean you were friends with that creep?"
"Mind yourself, Naruto," Shino said in a low voice. I started, realising that was the first time I had heard him speak. "These sand ninja are no joke. Do not antagonise them." I nodded in agreement and we returned our attention to the match.
A nagging sensation was tugging at my gut. Like there was something not quite right as Temari tried to sweep Shikamaru away with a gust of wind. Wisps of hair around my face fluttered from the force.
I snuck a glance at Gaara, who was staring in space toward his sister's match. His pale arms were crossed over his chest with indifference. While everyone else was engulfed in the battle, he seemed preoccupied with something else. With Kankuro hunched over the railing to watch Temari's battle, I decided to go to the crimson-haired boy.
"Hey," Ayame whispered under her breath, grabbing my wrist just as I turned to go. Her eyes were forward, but her voice reached me. "Why do you get to talk to him, ne?"
"Because," I said, slipping my arm from her grip, "I know he won't harm me."
I continued on my way without further interruption. When I approached Gaara, I said nothing, as if waiting for him to acknowledge my presence. There was no surprise when he didn't, though I thought he was watching me from the corner of his intense eyes.
"Your sister is performing well," I commented as she dodged Shikamaru's unique shadow-manipulation jutsu. He said nothing. No nod in agreement, no shrug in indifference. He remained still like a statue carved my the hands of the most talented artists. He hair wavered in the breeze. I decided not to beat around the bush as I lowered my voice. "Did you kill Uchiha Sasuke?"
Gaara's body became rigid like steel. His fists tightened around a wad of his shirt sleeve, his jawline flexed so greatly I was afraid he would break his teeth. But still he did not answer me. I didn't think he did it - he wouldn't have had that kind of reaction if he had. If anything, I think he would have chuckled darkly or threaten to kill me or something. I hesitantly reached for his arm.
"Gaara?"
"Winner: Temari!"
As the crowd booed at something below, I was pinned against a nearby wall by Gaara, a dead serious look in his eyes. I remember this look from the preliminaries, when that other nin made me bleed. That thirsty, enraged, anticipating look. But I wasn't afraid. He didn't hurt me; I was gingerly held against the wall, my back barely touched it.
"Gaara," I said, touching his arm again. He scowled and released me.
"Where the hell is Sasuke?" Ayame's agrivated voice sounded above the crowd chanting the Uchiha's name. I stepped away from Gaara, who stayed where he was. When Temari climbed back up to the observation platform.
"He'll show up," I finally heard Gaara say. "He'll definitely be here."
The crowd had been waiting for nearly ten minutes now, chanting and shouting for the missing contestant to arrive. Ayame was hyper-vigilant, as if every drop of her energy had been replaced in the time between the end of our fight to now.
"All right, the time limit has expired," Genma announced, effectively silencing the crowd. He never got to finish his thought as a cyclone of green leaves and two large solid masses flew its way into the arena. When it came to a halt, Uchiha Sasuke and Hatake Kakashi of the Leaf stood tall in the middle of the ring. Sasuke looked different; his stance was all confidence and smug. I couldn't wait to beat it out of him in the following rounds.
"Sorry we're late," I managed to hear the older man say under the mask that covered the majority of his face. "You wouldn't believe the traffic."
"What an ass!" Ayame shouted, her fist in the air. "Seriously, Kakashi-sensei, what's the big idea!? You almost got Sasuke disqualified!" She jumped down from the platform before I could warn her not too.
I sighed in relief. I knew Gaara didn't kill Sasuke. He was probably just training until the last moment. I watched what was happening below and the crowd cooed and hooted when Sasuke kissed Ayame in attempt to make her stop yelling at them.
"Don't think that'll get you off the hook for missing my battle!" She shouted, jumping back from him. "That's probably the reason why I lost!"
"All right, Gaara," Genma said, getting everyone's attention. "Come on down here." Shikamaru, Naruto, and Ayame began to walk toward the stairs to get out of the way.
"Gaara, don't let him throw off the plan - " I heard Kankuro say from the other side of the platform. Plan? What plan? To win the Exams?
Gaara just turned around and began to silently walk down the stairs. Temari watched after him and so did I. The two of us locked eyes and I refused to back down. She glowered at me with her blue eyes before whispering to Kankuro. I swiftly followed Gaara with my ninja speed.
He was halfway down the stairs by the time I reached him. Stopping dead in his tracks, he said, "Go back. Or I'll kill you."
"How many times will you threaten my life before you deliver?" I asked. He said nothing, though I expected him to attack. "Are you planning on killing Uchiha Sasuke?" I demanded.
"That isn't your concern." He kept walking and I pursued him as we reached a corridor. At the end of it, there were two ninja whose origin I couldn't distinguish until we got closer. One of the was scrawny and harsh looking while the other was large and thug-like. They were from Kusogakure, the Village Hidden in the Grass.
"What is your business in here?" I asked, standing next to Gaara now. The scrawny one chuckled.
"You kids think this competition is all about you," he said in a high, raspy voice. "But really it's about the people who bet on you. Or in your case, bet against you. Our boss has his money on the other guy." I clenched my teeth.
"Leave now," I ordered. "The actions you are threatening to make violates the code of conduct and regulations of the - "
"We can kill her, right?" The large one asked. "They'll think that Leaf girl did it for revenge." I narrowed my eyes at them. I wasn't ready for a fight so soon and they knew it.
"Good idea," the scrawny one snickered. "So, what's it gonna be, kid?" They asked Gaara, who hadn't said a word. They thought he was too afraid to talk, but even I could see the cork the plugged his sand gourd shut was unscrewing itself. The skinny one took out a kunai and so did I.
Sand suddenly flowed from Gaara's back, and light bulbs popped and Gaara was chuckling deeply and darkly, his eyes wide. One of them lunged at me, but was caught by Gaara's sand before I could react. He struggled and shouted, but with a clench of his fist, the screaming stopped. It was as if the Kuso-nin was crushed into oblivion. As the other tried to run, he was dragged and consumed by Gaara's sand. My kunai clattered to the ground.
This is what happened to Dosu. I remember his blood on my face, the look of, what I now know to be, fear in his eyes. The sand receded into Gaara's and he looked at me for just a moment before walking slowly out of the corridor. My legs felt weak. Is that what happened to the boy in the preliminaries Himeko was talking about? And all he had to do was squeeze. One little squeeze and the other kid's limbs were . . .
I unsteadily followed him. Ayame, Naruto, and Shikamaru were all frozen in place. Gaara just walked past them, as if they weren't event there. When he was gone, the boys sat on the stairs, baffled.
"I've never seen anyone kill like that," Shikamaru said, wiping the nervous sweat from his brow. "He didn't bat an eye at it. Things aren't looking so great from your friend."
"Yuki,"Ayame called to me, climbing the steps. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" I shook my head and leaned against the wall before sliding down to sit.
"He didn't touch me," I said. I looked at her concerned, angry grey eyes, then at her friends on the steps. In the hall, there wasn't a single trace of blood or sand anywhere - no evidence that any death took place there. "In fact," I added, looking my slightly quivering hands, which I held tight to steady, "I think he protected me."
. . .
Ayame's P.o.V.
It was hard to believe my eyes. And my ears, for that matter. Gaara ruthlessly killed two guys and protected Yuki? It was all insane. And now he's going up against Sasuke. I saw what he did to Lee - the kid might never be a ninja because of his injuries. It was all too crazy. I didn't want Sasuke to get hurt.
"Let's get you some air, Yuki-chan," I said, offering my hand to help her get to her feet. "You don't look so hot."
"I'm fine," she insisted, though she took my hand anyway.
"Are you guys coming or what?" I asked. "Onii-san, I thought you wanted to see Sasuke's fight?" When I looked at Naruto, I saw that he was shaking. "Naruto?"
"We're not good enough for him," he said with a trembling voice. I furrowed my brow.
"The only one who can make him feel anything is . . ."
"Sasuke," I finished Shikamaru's sentence with a heavy breath. "So what does that mean?"
"You know what happened to those two guys? To Lee?" Shikamaru asked himself more than anything. "That's what he'll do to Sasuke." Silence fell over us. Yuki had recovered from the shock, her cool expression back in its place.
"What do we do?" I asked. There was no immediate answer. I clenched my fists. "We can't let him keep killing people!" My shouts resonated in the hall. Naruto stood up.
"I know," he said. "We gotta talk to Kakashi-sensei." He pointed at us. "You two go to the terrace, keep and eye on them. Shikamaru and I will stop the match as soon as we can and save Sasuke!" Before I could even argue, Naruto bolted away, Shikamaru hesitantly following behind.
"Are you okay with this plan?" Yuki asked as she started running back up the stairs.
"We have to be. There's nothing else we can do."
When we reached the balcony, we looked closely at the battlefield. There was a huge ball of sand and Sasuke, but no Gaara. Where was he?
"He's inside the sand," Yuki said. She looked at his siblings. "What's wrong with Gaara?"
"Isn't that a rude question to ask?" Temari snapped back, though she couldn't hide the sweat on her brow from me.
"Your baby brother just killed two people on the way to his match," I informed them. when they tensed, but turned away with no comment, I added, "But I can't imagine that surprises you." Sasuke was attacking the ball, only to have sandy spikes attack him if her got too close.
"Temari, Kankuro," Yuki said in a calm voice. "We didn't make a great first impression, sure. You don't like us, whatever. But let us help. If something is wrong with Gaara, I want to help."
"When he was younger, he was bullied a lot, ne?" I asked, holding my fist so tightly I thought my nails would cut open my palms. "Was it because of his murderer complex? Everyone was afraid of him, but not one wanted to help him! And now we're trying to help and you don't want it?"
"Little girl," Kankuro said to me, "you don't know what you're talking about. There's a lot that you don't know anything about, so shut up."
Chirping sounds like loud birds overcame us. Sasuke, who was running at incredible speeds, had light flickering in his palm as he ran to Gaara' fortress. What the hell was that? When his finally connected his fist to the sphere, his arm sunk right in. Kankuro gasped.
"No one has ever . . . Gaara's shield is impenetrable," he said. "This is not good."
"Blood!" Gaara's shriek echoed throughout the stadium. "It's my blood!"
Sasuke struggled to get loose and when he finally managed to jump back, a long brown thing with purple veins came after him. It looked like some monstrous arm. Just what was going on?
"Is that thing taking over Gaara again?" Kankuro asked Temari urgently, and equally terrified.
"I don't know," she said, "this has never happened before. I think he's hurt." The balled cracked and faded away. Gaara was breathing heavily, a different energy in the air.
Feathers fell from the sky. Fluffy, soft, gentle. My eyelids grew heavy and my body felt too numb to stand. I was caught before collapsing to the ground.
"Release!" I heard Yuki say. The feathers were gone, but the audience was silent. They looked like a bunch of rag dolls. "It was a genjutsu. The one time it actually was one and I managed to catch it."
"Thanks," I said, straightening myself. "What's going on?" Yuki scanned the area. The platform where the Hokage had been sitting had a cloud of smoke rising from it. The air was thick with intensity. Gaara and Sasuke remained in the arena. Yuki looked at me, her red eyes nearly glowing.
"I have no idea."