Chapter 36

"More friends I see," the man said.

The bartender grabbed two more glass mugs but stopped in his tracks when the man held his hand as a "stop" sign. "You didn't answer the question." he said to Shikamaru.

"Well, you told him you asked the questions," Shikamaru answered. "You didn't ask yet."

The man stopped smiling and abruptly stood up. The shinobis didn't move back or even looked concerned. They remained in their initial position.

"What. Is. Your. Business. Here." he said with a threatening demeanor.

"We are looking to stop for the night," answered Gaara, nonchalantly. Abigail met the eyes of the man who stared at her curiously. She frowned as well. He seemed familiar.

"I'm afraid we are closed to strangers," the leader replied.

Gaara looked to the bartender. "Are you?"

"HEY!" The man ran to Gaara and grabbed him by the collar. Gaara slowly turned his head to look at his assailant and grinned, studying him up and down.

"I'd let go if I were you," he almost whispered, tilting his head slightly.

"Clearly you don't know us," the man said, grinning back. A click sound made its way to Gaara's ears and the man plunged a small pocket knife, aiming for Gaara's ribs. To his surprise, the knife was stopped by a barrier of sand. Gaara's head tilted slightly on the other side. If Abigail hadn't known him, she would have been freaked out by his grin.

"Awwww, did you just try to stab me?"

Abigail and the man recognize each other at the same time, the shock spread like wildfire on each other's face.

"YOU!" the man and Aby yelled at the same time, attracting the attention of the rest of the INN.

A young lady appeared from the side of the bar that led to the washrooms; a prelude of the attack that was destined to happen any second now.

She ran out, holding her ripped shirt, her face wearing the traits of shame and tears of fright in her eyes. Another man followed soon after, walking slowly, fixing his own shirt.

"Holy Shit!" he laughed when he came into sight. "The girl struggled so much I couldn't get in!" He stopped when he saw the scene.

Gaara knocked out the distracted leader with a single head butt, and let him fall on the ground. He raised his hands and sand blurted out of his gourd.

Sai and Naruto answered four of the six men who were sitting until now. They each took a knife out of their pocket and jumped on the shinobis. They were more skilled than the shinobis anticipated, but still not impossible to defeat.

As previously agreed, Abigail stayed close to Gaara, albeit the other two men who lunged at him with a war cry. She got knocked over by one of them who avoided one of Gaara's blows.

Maybe this is "too close", she thought nervously. She dragged herself a meter away before catching the eyes of the man whom she recognised earlier.

What the hell?

The man didn't move to attack the shinobis, but he eyed her with too much determination. She knew it wouldn't be long before he made his move on her.

Right on cue, the man lunged at her.

Well, she thought, this is a thug, right? Moment of truth!

She rolled away quicker than her training as seen her do so far. Nothing better than a real fight to measure the newly acquired skills!

The man ended up empty handed and surprised. He might have underestimated her a bit. When he swore to himself to be a little more serious with her, his nose was met with a palm, blinding him on the spot. He then felt his family jewels on fire. His knees gave in before he received another kick under his chin.

Abigail was disappointed in that last one. She was expecting him to fly a few meters back, just like in the movies; But he just grunted in pain, still blinded by the nose palm she inflicted on him a few seconds ago.

Still! That was too easy for her taste. There had barely been any struggle. She gave a quick look around her before setting her eyes on the large man.

"So you got here too!" she said.

"So you speak japanese?" the large man said, wiping the last bit of nosebleed with his sleeve. He spat some blood on the ground near Abigail. As he got back up to his feet, she thought she might have overestimated the effectiveness of her attacks. She tried not to let her worries show.

"That topic is getting old," she said in an annoyed tone. "Your friends didn't follow you here?"

He smirked in answer. "My friends are not the ones you should worry about right now."
He stood tall above her, obviously no longer bothered about his previous injuries. Fear raised the fine hairs on her neck. She spared another quick look towards Gaara and he met her eyes between two blows.

The man stepped forward and she reacted in an offensive. She threw a weak but precise jab to his right eye and followed with a back fist. He caught the second fist and closed his hand tightly around hers. He blinked and growled in annoyance, rubbing the eye that was punched a few seconds earlier. This was not going the way she had hoped to.

Seeing that she couldn't free herself from his grip, she started to panic, kicking and punching in the air.

"Let go!"

He rolled her inward on his chest; wrapping his left arm around her neck. She struggled to get free and almost succeeded. When she got away, he grabbed her by the arm and swivelled her around, slapping her at the same time, hard.

She crashed against the wall and fell on the ground, dizzy. "Oh wow, I can literally see stars turning around my head. You gotta love this world!"

She thought she heard someone calling her name, though she was too knocked out to make out who it lifted her off the ground effortlessly and wrapped his arm around her neck again. This is when she started to feel the warm liquid form in her mouth. She spit the blood out.

"You're fucking lucky that he said not to kill you,," he said before getting a knife out. The blade was too big and too long for her taste. "We may need you alive, but nothing was said about not hurting you," he added with a nasty yellow grin.

Cold sweat ran down her spine as she stilled. She tried to tell herself that the threat was over, but deep inside; she knew it wasn't. She had that feeling that there were more guys looking for her. She was afraid of the answer. Was it possible? Was it Chris?

"Who told you to keep me alive?" she asked with difficulty.

His arm was tight against her throat.

"That doesn't matter sweetheart. We didn't expect you to come around here, but that'll make it easier for us."

She looked towards Gaara, thinking it would be a good time for some help. She hated the idea that he might have, yet again, been right; she wasn't strong enough, and the guy wasn't even a shinobi! Her ego was scratched and her confidence was wavering fast. Gaara was completely surrounded by sand, shielding him from the other assailants. He couldn't see her; therefore he probably didn't know she was in trouble. Did he?

He sneaked a quick peek when he heard Naruto's voice cry out for Abigail.

"Would you mind loosening your grip a little?" she asked her captor with a strangled voice. He laughed in answer and moved towards the exit.

"HELP!" she cried in a moment of panic. Her heart twisted when she saw the other shinobis trying to get to her, except for Gaara who was still in his whirlwind of sand. They were busy knocking out the rest of the enemy. They were fast, but not fast enough. The guy was dragging her away like a tiger who already killed its prey.

"GAARA!" she cried towards the whirlwind of sand. The whirlwind suddenly dropped to the ground and solidified in the shape of shards and spikes, rising from the ground. The two guys who were fighting him cried in pain, stuck amidst the solidified sand. Gaara slid behind one of them, grabbed him by his jacket with two hands and angrily threw him exactly where Abigail was.

The big guy's reaction was to drop Abigail and catch the guy who was thrown at him. He surprisingly slid back a few meters, without dropping the other man.

The sight was so extraordinary that all fights ceased just to watch. The leader also watched, amazed by the strength of the man. Abigail ran and stood beside Gaara who's eyes were peeled on the man, his mouth slightly opened in shock.

The man who was thrown smirked.

"Wow! Thanks for catching me, man! I—"

The huge guy dropped him on the floor and roared in anger. He grabbed the man also by the jacket and spun him around for momentum; releasing him, flying to Gaara. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't as strong. After he quickly pushed Aby out of the way, he received the man full force and they were both thrown out of the INN through the wooden wall, over the steps and crashed a few meters down the street. A few frightened and curious onlookers observed the scene outside. The man stood up quicker than Gaara who had involuntarily cushioned the enemy's fall.

"WOOA!" Naruto exclaimed. "That guy's strong!"

"NARUTO! WATCH—"

Sai didn't need to warn him of the opportunistic attack coming to him. Naruto had already countered it, throwing him to the ground and knocking him out with a punch. They ran out to join Gaara, except Sai who was left to deal with the big guy.

Abigail pushed the door open and stopped in her tracks. Among the curious villagers, were suddenly more enemies, two of them she recognized also.

"So his friends ARE here after all," she thought.

They raised an eyebrow when they saw her and looked at each other. She felt a huge presence behind her and she flung herself forward instinctively. When she reached the bottom stairs, however, someone pulled her by her collar.

"Is she really worth that much to you guys?" The leader said while pulling his kunai to her throat. She didn't know where he came from.

"Minus 3 points for awareness," she thought with a sigh.

"Yes," the huge man said, joining his two friends.

What happened to Sai?!

"Lucky for you you didn't have to lift a finger to get her," he added, spitting on the ground. "I don't think we need to pay you anymore."

Gaara stood up with Naruto's help, his eyes peeled on Abigail and her assailant. Were they seriously discussing business with them still around? With HIM still around?!

"Calm down, Gaara," Naruto whispered in his ear. "Maybe we can let them help us figure out what this whole thing is about."

The leader removed the knife from her throat to scratch his hairy chin with it before returning it to its original position.

"You didn't exactly help fight. I think we're still entitled to it. Besides, what are you people going to do with it? A weapon infused with chakra is not exactly useful to you, is it?"

"But it's pretty to look at!" the guy with the dagger said. It's jewel shone like a rainbow under the sunlight as he rotated it between his fingers. "And it's worth a lot of money, no doubt."

"It was our deal," reminded the leader.

"The deal was to go to Konoha and get her. You didn't even have to travel. No delivery, no shipping cost, not even a hint of trouble."

"I wouldn't call this troubleless," he hissed, pointing at the shinobis. "And I'm still the one who has her. I still have to 'deliver' her to you, don't I?"

He grinned, holding her firmly, the knife still on her throat."

Abigail could see her friends still; listening, waiting.

"I don't suppose I have any say in this story?" she said.

The traders ignored her, as if she was a simple object under appraisal. The big man scratched his chin, analysing the situation. He finally looked over to the man with the dagger and nodded. The latter sighed in disappointment and walked towards the leader, handing over the dagger and backing away.

The big guy raised an eyebrow when he saw that the leader did not hand over Abigail.

"You know, come to think of it," he started. "Fighting the Kazekage was not part of it either. Him alone should double the price!"

One of the two guys who stayed silent until now growled, impatient.

"You didn't worry about the blond guy over there, who's the most powerful of them all, but raise the price with that guy?"

"We expected Naruto to slightly cause trouble if we were not careful, but not a kage on top of it! Do you really think they're just going to stay there and say 'oh well! She's gone! Nothing we can do about it now!' They're gonna go after you! And us! You need to take care of them now. Looks like you need a little more from us!" The leader grinned. "And we're gonna need a little more than the dagger."

The three guys grumbled under their breath. The huge man turned to his friend.

"Yashi, what else do we have?"

Abigail's eyes widened when she saw the man pull the gun from his trousers from the back.

"What's that thing?" asked the leader with a grimace.

"That thing's ugly! What's so special about it?" said another one standing nearby.

Gaara watched Abigail stir in the man's grasp.

"Aby, what is that?" he asked her with a frown on his face.

"It's a gun," she said, simply.

The three men looked at each other, amused.

"Oh, you don't have those here?" the man called Yashi said.

No, they didn't. Abigail realized that this world was at some disadvantage against guns here. Shinobis were powerful and fast, but so were guns; probably also much faster.

"Well, let me demonstrate!" Yashi slid the slider lock back, pointed down at the leader's feet and fired. The sound and instant damage it made in the ground made people jump in fright and gasp. Gaara's eyes widened as well. So did Naruto's, as sound still echoed down the valley.

"What the …"

"Guys, be careful!" Abigail said with a tight voice.

The leader lost his grin when the gun was pointed at him. Abigail also stopped stirring, afraid that the man would not be very good at aiming.

"Come to think of it," Yashi said, "if I just shoot him, then we keep the dagger AND the girl!"

"Wait, Yashi." the huge guy said. "Those shinobis might be a problem."

"We can just shoot'hem!"

"Maybe one, but the others will be quick to get the gun out of our hands. They're ninjas. We're outmatched here. But these guys," he said, pointing at the leader and his men," are also ninjas. They can slow them down while we run with the girl. I mean look at them; they would already have stopped us if it wasn't' for him holding on to the girl!"

The man named Yashi weighted the words for a moment before approaching the leader, the gun still pointing at him.

"Well?" he said, serious. "Take it! Unless you think it's not enough payment for you? But that's pretty much all we have left."

The leader grabbed the canon part, but pulled away with a shout. The man, still holding the gun pointed at him grinned.

"Careful, it's still hot!" he said before turning the grip part around for the leader to take.

He took it carefully, his other hand still holding the knife on Abigail's throat, and eyed the man curiously.

"Well? Give it a try!" he said after grabbing Abigail and dragging her toward them.

"Hey!" Naruto screamed.

The leader observed the gun closely, slid back the lock as he saw the man do before, pointed it to Naruto and Gaara and fired three times. Gaara barely had time to make a sand wall. The first shot bounced back, but the last two went right through it.

One bullet exploded in a wheelbarrow a few meters behind them; the other other one hit Gaara in the chest. The shock of impact and surprise came first. The pain came a few seconds later. He found it hard to breathe and when he looked down a dark stain spread over his shirt. He felt his whole body go numb and fell back on the ground.

He barely heard Abigail's scream, or felt Naruto's hands as he knelt down beside him, looking panicked. More shouts, more movements, more voices; all blending in the dark. He felt his heart pump faster. The only thing that would make his heart pump like that was Abigail.

Naruto looked back and forth between Abigail, struggling to get free and Gaara who was smiling oddly. He was losing so much blood! What the heck was this weapon!

He decided to heal Gaara, hoping the others would rescue Abigail. Healing chakra was not enough. The wound was not closing and the blood was pulsing out of his chest. Did it hit the heart?! No, Gaara was still alive, but he was fading quickly! He wrapped himself in the golden chakra that Kurama provided him. He closed his eyes to focus on whatever was inside of him, but it was clouded by all the blood.

"Come on Naruto!" he told himself. "You dealt with worse than that before!"

Except that it wasn't anything like that. That thing was different. Judging by Aby's expression, it came from her world. One thing came to his mind: were they able to deal with weapons from another world? He didn't have time to question. He had to stop the bleeding somehow. He grabbed the first thing he saw, Gaara's kazekage hat, and pressed it hard against his chest, flowing chakra through it, hoping it would help.

Abigail was yet again in another nightmare. Gaara was on the ground, his blood flowing out of his body. She felt that his whole body would be completely drained within seconds.

"Please, please, let me go to him! Please!" She cried, her feet heavy. She couldn't walk. They were literally dragging her in the dirt. She couldn't get her eyes off Gaara.

"He's dying! Oh my God, he's dying! And there's nothing I can do."

She sobbed as she watched Naruto trying to figure out how to stop the bleeding. This weapon was not of this world.

"BRENT! HELP ME! BRENT!"

It was a new feeling she had; To cry out for his help. Something she knew she was supposed to do, even if she knew he wouldn't come because she didn't have the stupid staff to call him. Why did she need it anyway?

She felt something stir in her. Maybe it was him. Maybe Brent felt her call out to him, but he couldn't get through because she didn't have the staff?

She didn't know what to think. She just cried, aware that she was taken away.

They were already out of sight. The three men carried her like a potato pouch. She didn't have the strength to do anything. She just stared blankly at the dirt path under her, her tears moistening it here and there.

A series of strange shards suddenly rained from the sky. The ground seemed to explode everywhere. She was dropped on the ground while the three men shielded their heads from the shards. They looked up when it stopped. A shadow flew over their head, and more shards attacked them.

Abigail noticed a large white bird flying over. It disappeared with a "POOF" and Sai landed in front of her. He withdrew his scroll and took his brush out of his pocket before the three men could do anything. In no time, he had a giant tiger pinning them to the ground. One of them got away and ran to Sai. The man had no martial art skills whatsoever, but he was outrageously strong! Every blow Sai threw at him was simply met with a 'THUMP'.

"Dammit!" Sai whispered between his teeth, trying to find a weakness in him. "Abigail! If there's water around, now's the time to fight!"

She watched him, feeling helpless.

"Aby! The faster we deal with them, the faster we help Gaara!"

"I can't help him."

"You certainly can't if you don't try!" he said, constantly dancing around the large man.

"AH AH! She's useless, just like those kids she tried to help,"

"Oh shut up! I wasn't talking to you!" Sai spat.

He drew some more in his scroll, jumping away from the man. This time, after a few hand gestures, a dozen small paper mice came out and ran to the man, climbed under his clothes, annoying the heck out of him.

"Ow! They're biting me! How is it that those paper things can bite?!

"There's no water around," she said. "I can't do nothing. I'm not strong enough, I'm not quick enough, I'm just … not enough."

"ABY STOP THAT!" Sai said. "GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF AND HELP ME GET RID OF THESE SCUM BAGS!"

She looked at an angry Sai who was doing his best to stay out of reach of the man. He also didn't have a clue how to defeat him, but it didn't stop him from trying.

She forced herself up and shook the sight of Gaara's memory away. Sai was right. She certainly wouldn't save him if she didn't try. But how?

One step at a time.

Another loud 'POOF' was heard and the tiger disappeared. The huge man and Yashi must have 'killed' it with their knife. They were now standing up, panting, and looking at her.

She looked around. There was no water. She remembered the sea a few miles away, but it was too far. She needed something now.

"Sai! Your gourd!"

The three men jumped on him at the same time. He had just the time to put the gourd's cap out and throw the content of the gourd out in the air.

Aby screamed and waved her arm to catch each cell of that water. She waved around some more and "threw" her arms forward, sending shards of "water" or rather, shards of "ice" to the three men.

"ICE BULLETS!" she screamed, since it was the first thing that she could think of.

It was enough.

Each C02 cell had taken the shape of a tiny, almost invisible shard; her mind made them so hard that they went right through the large men. Some through the neck, some through the legs, arms, belly, etc. The crystal sharp particles landed in a splash of water on trees, bushes and grass.

Sai struggled himself out from under the three big men and breathed a long sigh of relief.

"See?" he said. "Don't be too quick to accept defeat!"

"Please, tell me he's going to be okay!" she answered.

"I don't know, let's go see! Hurry!"

He drew another bird on his scroll and they both flew the few meters that separated them from the village, and ultimately, from Gaara.

Naruto was still working on him. A frown was marking his face, which Abigail did not like.

"Is it working?" she still asked in hope he would give her a good answer.

"No! I don't know what else to do! What do you guys do in your world, Abigail? When someone is injured from one of … these things? What do you guys do?!"

She sniffed.

"I'm not sure …"

"Abigail! He is dying! Help me here!"

Gaara mumbled something under his breath.

"What?" she said.

"I don't know, he's been talking like that for a while now. I don't know what he's saying. It's something he's repeating over and over, but I can't hear."

"At the hospital, they would remove the bullet."

"What's a bullet?!" Shikamaru demanded to know. He was holding a whole bunch of enemies with his shadow paralysis jutsu. She didn't know how long he had been, but he was starting to shake; probably at the last bit of chakra he had remaining.

"It's a piece of metal."

"Can you remove it?"

She laughed and cried at the same time.

"If I could I would not be standing here!"

"Well think of something!"

"Even if I knew, I don't have the tools! I'm not a doctor!"

"You are … a water user,: Shikamaru said. "Use that! Shit!"

His jutsu broke, releasing the others. Naruto grumbled under his breath. No matter what happened, he couldn't release the pressure on Gaara's chest.

The other shinobis, who now had the dagger and the gun, pursued, as expected, stopped by Shikamaru and Sai. Abigail stood in the midst of the metal against metal and chaotic footsteps.

What can I possibly do!

They heard a loud roar, followed by another one, coming from different directions.

When Abigail lifted her eyes, a very huge Shukaku stepped over her, marking the ground with his huge claws. She felt the ground's vibration every time he stepped. Coming from another direction was Killer B, sitting on the nose of a very large Octopus like creature. The sheer size of them froze her in place. Naruto, however, smiled.

"Octopus! Shukaku! Man I'm glad to see you guys!"

He gasps, suddenly realizing. "Was he calling you? Was it your name he was whispering all this time?"

The villagers scattered all around the village. Not sure what to fear most: the giant creatures or the thugs of the village.

Gyūki, the eight tails beast, encouraged by Killer B, slapped a few enemies out of the way with a tentacle. Shukaku squashed three of them with just one paw, splattering blood all over like a balloon spilling water.

Killer B jumped off Gyūki and walked toward the only enemy remaining, the leader. He fired at the giant octopus who groaned in pain. It only made it angry. The man dropped the gun and contemplated his fate, shaking.

"I hope you made your prayers, thug;
My BFB is very fond of hugs!"

The eight tails rolled his eyes and wrapped a tentacle around the last man standing; squeezed the last breath out of him and sent him flying over the cliff like a squashed annoying bug.

Sai and Shikamaru sat down in the dirt to catch their breaths.

"BFB?" asked Sai with a frown.

"I don't know …" Shikamaru said, waving the question away.

Killer B stood over them with disdain while offering a hand.

"BFB stands for 'Best Friend Beast', Fools, you Fools!"

Abigail ran to Gaara and kneeled beside him, cupping her hands around his head; he was drenched in sweat and couldn't look straight.

"Naruto," she said with a sob. "I don't know what to do!"

The one and eight tails came around and leaned over Gaara. Gyūki observed Abigail for the first time.

"Oh! You were right!" he said to Shukaku. "What is this?!"

"I told you! The lad is special."

"I want to bow down to her for some reason,"

"Don't be so freaking low!"

"I didn't say I like it!"

"What's wrong with him now!" exclaimed Shukaku, changing the subject. 'Why does he look like he's dying!"

"Because he is!" raged Naruto. "I can't stop whatever is messing him up and she doesn't know what to do!"

"I feel like you should," said Gyūki, perplexed.

"I told you that also, she doesn't know what she is … heck, I don't even know what she is!"

"Well," Abigail started, trying to stay calm. "I know putting pressure is good to stop the blood, but you can't heal it if the bullet is still inside."

"Then remove the bullet," Shukaku said, as if speaking to an idiot.

"I don't have the tools!" she said, imitating his tone.

"Water is flowing in you," Gyūki said gently. "Use the water to pull it out."

"How?" she asked. The beast did not answer.

She looked at Gaara and remembered the stone in the bubble of water. She had control of it. She could hold it in place, or destroy it. Obviously, she could also move it. The realization hit her like a breath of fresh air. She took Naruto's water gourd. He didn't question it and kept his hands hovering above Gaara. She could feel heat radiating from Naruto's body. It was like a mini sun among them. She was also sensing that he was getting tired.

She poured a stream of water out of the gourd and guided it towards Gaara's wound. She couldn't see where the wound was exactly, but she breathed and closed her eyes, picturing the wound in her mind, and the path that the bullet made. The small stream of water made its way through it, before everyone's eyes.

Gaara flinched and clenched his teeth as the water made its way through. It was the weirdest feeling he's ever felt, along with the pain. He could feel the stinging path where the bullet entered to where it was lodged. He grabbed the first thing his hand encountered for comfort, which was Abigail's thigh. He squeezed hard, but she didn't flinch.

She pictured in her mind, a very thin layer of water submerging the entire bullet. She could see that it was cracked somehow. It didn't matter. She would bring the whole thing out.

She pulled back the water, which gave resistance. Gaara screeched and trembled.

"Don't stop," Naruto said, "keep going! Don't worry about him!"

She tensed at the noise Gaara made, something she wasn't used to. Pain that he would never be able to explain unless someone else got shot. She wondered how different it was. Removing a knife versus removing a bullet. It couldn't be so different. Still…

He twisted his body and screamed when the bullet came out.

Naruto smiled, feeling he was in control of the healing again. Gaara eased up and lost consciousness. Abigail let the bubble of water fall in her hand and it splashed, running through her fingers, leaving only the bullet, still hot, who's pieces came apart in her hand.