Chapter 64: The hunt
There was something to be said about living in a place where almost no life could persevere. One of those was the ease one could learn to identify the few animals capable of surviving in such rough terrain, and not once, had Gaara ever seen a bird like the one currently circling the skies just above Suna...circling his village.
It was quite the timing, he figured, when his gaze fell into the black cloak adorned with crimson clouds his intruder wore as he fell down right in front of him. It would seem like Jiraiya-sama's information was remarkably accurate if someone delayed, considering it was only a few hours earlier that they got the warning. They should probably attempt to think about a more efficient method to share this kind of delicate information because it was clear he should've moved to increase security way before now. That there still were no alarms echoing across the village could only really mean one thing.
His people had been killed.
"Ho..." the unknown nin did not look worried.
Sand moved at his will, charging against the intruder, not bothering to give the man time to talk, forcing him to jump back into whatever the bird-looking thing was. Trying to escape to the sky then...but aerial enemies would not stop him. Using sand to lift himself off the ground and manipulating it to move around was something he'd learned to do since a long time ago.
"How did you know it was me, yeah?"
"In this desert, no bird like that exists."
"Heh, seems like my sneaking in was a failure, yeah?" Really, this had to be the first time that his opponent looked amused rather than worried. "Thanks to that, I don't need to search for you, yeah."
So, they truly were shameless enough to try and target him inside his own village. Reaching out, taking control of the sand under them took no effort at all, rushing around him in all but a wave. Suna was his village, the place, and people he'd bowed to protect when he took on the title of Kazekage. What his father had been unable to accomplish, to keep them safe and solidify their place in the world, Gaara would do it. He'd change the system he'd hated from the inside instead of simply quietly raging.
"As one would expect, you have the geographical advantage..." The blond Akatsuki was a threat, one the redhead would handle. "It's risky...yeah."
Taking on the form he'd once feared, his sand morphed into a claw. Aerial battle or not, the redhead would not be at a disadvantage as he ordered it to give chase, even when the man threw explosions at him, in hopes of making it crumble to no avail. Useless as the attack was, he glared...these explosives...these were not the average exploding tag. Homing types. Willing more sand from their surroundings to move, Gaara willed it to rush at the blond. This could quickly become annoying.
They were fast too...the homing explosives.
The massive bulk of sand was too slow to stop them as they flew around him...and the redhead had no doubt; they would explode as soon as they reached him. But the sand from his gourd was even faster.
His perfect defense closed around him in a familiar cocoon. His third eye materialized outside of it in almost no time at all, giving him a good view of the battlefield. This required more chakra than he would've liked to spend on this, but Shuukaku's reserves would serve well enough. Pulling even more sand, it moved around the flying intruder, closing around him in a rush to finish his Prison Coffin to crush the bomber...only for the sound of yet another explosion to announce the orb's shattering.
Not fast enough.
Sand closed around the man's left hand, pressure crushing the bones in his arm. Blood spilled out of it.
Irritation built up when yet another bird took form and got the bomber out of the fall that would've meant his death.
"You're good, yeah." Even with a lost limb, the man refused to look afraid.
He didn't have enough sand from his gourd to keep around him to serve as a defense and chase the blond at the same time, and the one he could take from the desert was too slow to keep up with his attacker. Mindlessly going after the invader could become dangerous if there was yet another enemy around...besides, sooner or later, the bomber would run out of explosives.
"That's it. I'm going to destroy this town, yeah!" Loud and arrogant, the man threatened him. "To be stopped from below would put me in such a bad mood. That and I'm tired of your expressionless face."
The explosive this time was not just a small bird-like bomb that was quickly falling right on the village...from where he could hear his people gathering, looking up. Anger rose inside him. They wouldn't be able to get away in time. Not all of them.
An explosion of chakra took command over as much sand as he'd ever attempted to control. He willed it to move, faster, quicker. To solidify on top of his village, ignoring the strain on his reserves, Gaara refused to let it go. Without knowing how many more explosives the bomber had at his disposal, he could not risk the safety of those beneath him. While shinobis could potentially make it out, the civilians would be stuck inside the explosion range.
"Ok, in shooting range."
It was right there, flapping in front of the slight opening he'd made in his defense.
Another bomb.
But the sand of his gourd was automatic, moving in a heartbeat. It closed around him, leaving only the sound of yet another explosion from outside...and yet...he could barely see them in the darkness of his cocoon, the white clay...
He felt it in an instant.
Even after three years, there was no way he could forget it. The feeling of this odd energy coming in close contact with him. This time, however, he could feel a slight burn on his side, even as gravity pulled him down, alongside the small form that had crashed into him. Light blue eyes widened, his mind struggling to catch up with the unexpected change of events.
"Stop our fall!" The voice was one he'd only heard a handful of times, one he memorized anyway. "Stop our fall, now!"
The high-pitched scream finally brought him back to his senses. Sand collected around them before they plummeted to the solid sand that still stood between them and the village. Their fall was stopped.
"Somehow...I barely made it," lying on top of him, the girl panted.
"How...?"
It was...definitely her.
The same girl who'd followed after Naruto and offered him a chance, even going as far as to heal his wounds despite the fact that Gaara actively attempted to kill her. Higurashi Kagome was quickly pushing herself off of him. Rising to her feet, using his sand as a foothold.
"We heard some interesting rumors about a couple of peculiar visitors being seen around Suna, so we decided to make a visit." Azure eyes locked onto his, a wan smile on her lips. "That said...we shouldn't expect any more backup for a good while...also, I hope you still have some chakra left because I used quite a fair amount of it while running here after I felt your first attack."
Shaking his head, Gaara could only scoff. "I've more than enough.
Speed had always been something essential to her fighting style. With her built and physical strength, Kagome couldn't afford to be hit repeatedly...when talking about taijutsu, she had to be the fastest. Thanks to Orochimaru's training, she'd become even faster, and yet, even the Higurashi couldn't just shave off more than three hours of travel without having to burn through a not inconsiderable amount of chakra. Just one second more, and the girl wouldn't have been able to make the jump and use her reiki-infused tanto to slice through Gaara's perfect defense, causing them both to fall. Barely, they escaped the explosion. Considering how much sand the redhead had been forced to use to protect the village, there was no chance the Kazekage was in the best condition possible.
This last little trick seemed a little too reaching for it to be the first attack.
In a way, it almost felt like a last shot from the Akatsuki member. It was a smart move, but it clearly took a lot of that explosive clay. Chances were, the guy didn't have many weapons left, and if the information they obtained from Orochimaru was accurate, then the person she was facing right now was Deidara, former Stone non. A talented bomber with a unique material that he favored to the point that the blond didn't fight whenever he ran out of that specific clay. Without having witnessed the first part of the fight, Kagome couldn't be sure if Deidara still had something up his sleeve or not.
All in all, the odds weren't against them. As long as the girl only counted the enemy in front of them, that is.
Sasuke and the others had probably upped their speed once she left, but they still wouldn't really be able to match up to her without wasting too much chakra. The Uchiha would leave the others behind for sure, but even then, it would likely take him another 20 min at the least to reach her. And neither Suigetsu nor Juugo would make it in less than an hour at best. That Gaara had been fighting on his own on defense also meant any help coming from other Suna shinobis also was highly unlikely. For now, the only thing the girl could do was hope the redhead wasn't overestimating himself when he said he still had more than enough chakra.
"Oi, oi!" Well, Orochimaru's data on the mad terrorist's loud personality was pretty on point. "Just who the hell are you, yeah?!"
"Now, that's a rude way to ask someone a question," Kagome said, her tone hiding her concern. "Though, I'll happily answer your question if you answer one of mine...Uchiha Itachi, where is he?"
"Itachi... Oh! Wait, wait!" The man's laugh rang loudly. "No way, you're the girl his family kinda stole, yeah?"
"Where is he now?"
"And if I don't want to?" Keeping calm was essential, no matter how infuriating it was to see the one-armed, bleeding man act like she was no threat at all. "What, you'll let me live, yeah?"
Behind her, she could feel Gaara tense just a little; in this case, the Higurashi supposed she couldn't blame him. In this sort of situation, there was n way the Kazekage would be happy to let the bomber go. And with her technically being a deserter, despite neither her nor Sasuke's head having an official price on them, he could not make sure of where her loyalties lay. Fair enough, but in this case, completely unnecessary.
"Well, because of who you people insist on targetting, I fear there's absolutely no way I can let any of you remain alive," she smiled. "That said, if you answer, I'll make sure it's painless...or maybe not, it's not my village you attacked after all." Gazing back, she could see Gaara's gaze switched to her. "If you can give me just some fifteen minutes with him, then I'll be happy with that."
"Hmph, confident?"
"Of course," With another smile, the Higurashi made a careless motion with her hand. "You should take down that shield; I'll make sure nothing can pass us and still explode. Don't let your guard down, though these guys usually work in pairs."
She should probably be thankful for their little encounters back during the Chuunin Selection Exams because Kagome doubted any other leader would trust her words so easily and lower his village's defenses. Instead, his sand didn't waste a second to change its form, a claw intent on chasing the bomber almost made her shudder. Senbons were between her fingers in a heartbeat, focused as she was on changing into the cocoon; the Higurashi hadn't managed to try and sense out Deidara's potential partner. The faster they could get rid of the blond, the better.
"Tch, just as high of an ego as him, yeah," Deidara grumbled.
Something felt off.
Behind them!
Letting go of the needles, Kagome redirected her reiki. A burst of energy flew to her feet, breaking apart Gaara's chakra once more, making them plummet to the ground. Azure eyes barely caught the sight of blades passing through the place their heads had been in a second ago.
"Shit.
The second member decided to jump in.
Honestly, the girl couldn't imagine it was fun for the Kazekage to have his sand literally crumble underneath him when it was his most reliable tool twice in a row. Falling was faster to avoid the weapons hurled at them, more reliable as well. At least, the teen seemed to have caught on to her reasoning quick and stopped them from falling once more.
"East."
Even as she said it, Kagome turned back to see the clay bird rushing away from them. A distraction to let his partner go away...she'd hoped there would be no further intervention, but it seemed there was some kind of interest in keeping each other alive. Curses ran through her mind. This was the first time she'd ever encountered any of her current enemies, so there was no way she could pick them out from regular Suna shinobis from their auras alone. The same Suna nins that were now starting to make a fuss after finally noticing her presence while the two temporary allies were falling down.
"Wait, is that...?" Kankuro's somewhat familiar voice stood out from the noise.
"Over there!" she rose her voice.
Metal screeched as it hit against metal when her thrown senbons hit the new barrage of weapons thrown their way."
"Get the civilians to the shelters." Gaara's voice was laced with authority; he clearly wanted to keep these people safe. "Don't follow me."
The sudden burst of speed from the material she was standing on forced the girl to crouch down in an effort to regain her balance. Fingers digging into the moving sand gave her a really odd feeling, but she figured it was a decent way to make sure they wouldn't be taken by surprise.
"What information do you have?" he asked as soon as they were out of hearing range.
"Not as much as we'd like to," Kagome admitted. "I have a general idea of who the Akatsuki members are and their basic strengths. They travel in pairs and are currently looking for the tailed beasts and their vessels. I can't be sure who Deidara's partner is just yet."
"The bomber?"
"Yeah, he should be either completely out of explosives or close to." The information was outdated by several years, but it was rare for someone to change their fighting styles dramatically. "Orochimaru used to be a member; we got as much info as we could before we...left. Not that it was anything terribly useful, he left after he failed to get an Uchiha body."
Whatever the redhead was going to say, she'd never know as the words died on his throat when several sprawled corpses entered their line of sight. Slightly ahead of them was a hunched-out form, covered with a black cloak adorned with crimson clouds. Over them, the clay bird was getting closer to them. The escape vehicle. No time to play in the defensive.
Chakra pooled on her legs as she jumped out. Senbons replaced by her tanto. What blocked her attack was definitely not a weapon she recognized...according to the information she had, there was only one person who could have something like this and use it effectively.
"Sasori of the Red Sand," she muttered as her glare was focused on the crack on the wooden tail. "Puppeteer and poison user."
"So...Deidara managed to mess this up..." the voice that came out was jarring to hear. "Or rather, you're the one who managed to mess this up."
"Can you manage to stay out of his way?" the redhead asked.
Kagome scoffed. "I managed to avoid you, didn't I?"
Gaara hadn't lied about having some chakra left, but it certainly wasn't enough to pull the same amount of sand he'd done before and try to get rid of both enemies at the same time. Focusing on protecting the girl beside him was not something he could afford anymore. If memory served him right, however, her battle instincts should probably be sharp enough to keep her breathing.
He didn't really know the Higurashi girl. What he could get from thinking back on their brief encounters made it hard to believe her bond with Uzumaki Naruto was weak enough for her to completely stop caring about the blond after leaving the village. And her words from before seemed to suggest that the girl was still trying to help the prankster. Letting her die while she was helping him in a fight wasn't something that would sit well with him. Preferably, Gaara would have her go back, he may not have much chakra left, but against only one enemy, it would be enough. Of course, he had absolutely no power over her with which to order her around.
"The puppeteer?"
"Right in front of us." There was tension in her voice; the Higurashi was clearly not taking this lightly. "I can avoid your attacks, so don't hold back."
With that, the girl jumped back into the fray; it took him half a second to will his sand against the man as the cloak around him was moved away to reveal the clearly wooden puppet body hidden underneath. A volley of needles came out of the puppet's mouth, trying to force Kagome back only for her to evade it, just like she'd danced around his own attacks three years before. No, her speed was definitely greater now. But Sasori's speed was remarkable for how cumbersome the puppet looked. His attacks hit nothing but rock. A grenade was on the air, launching more senbons against them.
The girl landed at his side as she was forced to back off.
Not a scratch on her skin.
If the girl was right about how little interference the bomber still flying above them would offer to this fight, then this could be done.
The sound of steps took longer to register than it should.
Because he should've noticed the loud sounds his brother and the other jounins made as they ran after them long before the redhead saw them landing behind them. All of them brave and unwilling to let him fight on his own with only an uncertain ally on his side. And while usually, Gaara was not good at understanding other people's feelings with just a glance, he didn't need any more than that to understand the Higurashi girl's thoughts were running in the same lane as his. This was bad...because good-willed or not, the dozen of Suna shinobis that just arrived to offer him support had just given their enemy a dozen new targets he wasn't sure he could protect.
"Gaara!" His older's brother's voice was almost painful to hear.
"Oh, such a beloved Kazekage..."
"You all have to go back!" Kagome wasn't even trying to hide her annoyance. "Now!"
"What?!"
"She's right; go back." Gaara cut his brother's complaints off.
This time, he could see it right as it happened. The new grenade was launched towards them, and he cursed. Not enough. Sand rushed beneath his feet, pushing the others back with a whip-like motion...fast enough for even the Higurashi girl to be taken by surprise.
No senbons came out of the projectile this time.
Nor any kind of weapon.
It was gas...a semitransparent sort of gas that let out a sickly sweet smell.
Panic rose for a second as he looked back only to see a shimmering pink dome quickly rising around his brother and the others. Good. If it was her barrier, then it would probably manage to stop even the poison he'd already breathed in.
Heat began to burn in his throat, in his lungs.
For over a decade, not once had Gaara ever been in a situation where his skin was cut. And even after he got hit for the first time, getting injured was not something he was used to. Getting poisoned was something he had even less experience with. Shuukaku's chakra meant his injuries (the odd times they happened) tended to heal faster, but the redhead had even less of a clue about how it would react when it came to poisonings. There was no telling how much the demon sealed within him could protect him from something like this. It certainly wasn't enough to stop his lungs from burning and his muscles beginning to scream in pain.
"Is that..." the puppeteer trailed off.
"Gaara!" Panic laced his brother's voice.
"I can't move without breaking the barrier." The Higurashi's voice rose against his people's concerned yells. "You need to get in here, or I won't be able to heal you."
"I wonder..." Within the wooden doll, Sasori took a step forward. "Could that be the Higurashi bloodline, I see?"
Blades shot through the air only to bounce harmlessly against the girl's shield, and relief welled up inside him even as the pain grew sharper. He couldn't see anyone from within her barrier coughing or falling over in agony. It came up in time, then. Just how deadly or fast-acting this poison was meant to be, Gaara couldn't tell, but he could feel his body attempting to fight against it.
Retreating was not an option he would be given by the enemy in front of him. The Kazekage held no delusions that mercy would be an option given to him. But he could still breathe, he could still feel his chakra, and his sand still moved at his command. With the poison covering the whole area, the explosive expert would have no choice but to remain airborne. He trusted in the girl's confidence when she said she could heal him, but that would have to wait. Now that her movements were sealed behind him (with his own people's lives depending on her), the only option left was to try and take Sasori down before his body succumbed to the poison.
"Don't let the barrier down."
"...I won't," she said, even though he had no grounds to order her around. "Reiki is not something that will break easily."
Gratitude was evident in those once lonely eyes, even with the pain so clearly painted on his face.
Yet, only frustration was rapidly rising through her, heating up the blood inside her veins.
Because for all intents and purposes, Kagome was effectively chained down to this spot. Common barriers were good for stopping chakra and physical attacks. But to stop poison, a specific type of shield was needed. Which meant to actually use it, more time was needed for the set-up, and she would need to create anchors for it. In her haste to cast it, she'd skipped most of the seal weaving, leaving her with no option but to become the anchor herself, left hand holding the seal while her right pushed reiki through her blade and into the ground. As it was, the girl could make no more movements. Had she been alone, then dealing with toxins in her own body would've been no trouble at all. It wouldn't be the first time she tested her resistance to poisons, and until the very end, Kabuto had failed to find a substance that she couldn't purge from her system with a blast of reiki.
Like a broken record, Kankuro screamed his brother's name again.
"Don't move," she snapped. "I have no clue what kind of poison Sasori is using; if it acts too fast, I won't be able to do a thing."
"Gaara is out there!"
"His metabolism is different from yours." She couldn't start yelling as well, no matter how much she wished to. "He's got a better chance than you."
"Then extend this thing!" Worry was fueling the older teen's anger.
Gaara wanted to keep these people alive.
And while she didn't care too much for his reputation as a Kazekage, she'd agreed to help him out for Naruto's sake. Because she clearly remembered how the blond had reacted to his fellow jinchuuriki, and Kagome herself couldn't help but feel sympathy towards the redhead. If she thought it foolish to be sacrificing so much for the same people who'd been happy trying to kill him for being a failed experimental weapon, well, she wouldn't gain anything for voicing her opinions.
"This barrier is literally filtering the air we're breathing." Her words were a bit tenser than she would've liked while she tried to explain why they were the ones who tied her hands. "If I try to extend it, there is a very good chance it will crumble because I couldn't place any anchors. Do you want to gamble with the lives of everyone else here?"
"That's not...!"
"Then shut up." Her own frustration began to bleed through her tone. "I can't do a thing if I want to maintain this barrier."
"Can't you heal that?!" Kankuro had lowered his voice somewhat, but he was still screaming.
"Again, I have no idea just how fast-acting this is. If I was by myself, I wouldn't even need to keep a barrier up." It was cruel, but her anger and frustration demanded some sort of outlet. "As it is, even if it doesn't take me much time to heal this, there is a very real chance I won't make it in time for anyone other than the first person I treat to survive."
"Kankuro, calm down." An older man Kagome vaguely remembered as the siblings' teacher placed a hand on the older teen's shoulder. "This is also what our Kazekage asked for."
"Then what are we supposed to do?" the older teen's desperation was mirrored in every other face stuck within her barrier.
Not stupidly crashing into a fight far above your level would've been a good way to start.
Biting her tongue, Kagome made sure to push down those words.
She was meant to be helping these people, not psychologically pushing them to move out of the barrier to potentially die. Instead, she turned her focus back on the fight that was evidently not going to end in the redhead's favor. The Kazekage's sand's movements were quickly becoming more erratic; the attempted attacks visibly had less and less force in them. The puppet's weapons, on the other hand, had managed to stay just as fast as they'd been when the fight started. She could also notice Gaara's pained expression.
He wasn't making any moves to get closer to the barrier...
No, even if he did, she'd still be tied to this position until the people behind her got out of here. Which meant the puppeteer could just directly attack her barrier until she ran out of strength or was forced to let the shield down, condemning all those behind her to die. Already knowing what she'd find, the girl closed her eyes, focusing on the shikigami Sasuke always carried with him. He was still too far away from them, and even if he wasn't, Sasori was making sure to keep the poisonous gas covering the space...
"The Ichibi's power is really something, to still be able to move like this despite all the toxins in your body." It was a cowardly tactic but an effective one. "But it won't last much longer."
Stuck doing nothing more than keeping a shield up...how the hell did she end up in this situation once more?
And protecting who?
A group of judgemental people that had been an active part of the hatred Gaara felt most of his life. So many of them would've celebrated it if the redhead had been successfully assassinated before; even his so worried brother hadn't really cared for the kid three years ago. Never bothering to look at the person who'd been sacrificed. Just like those back in Konoha hadn't cared about Naruto and instead decided to throw their anger and hatred towards an innocent, orphan child...and in a way, it was the same thing they'd done to Itachi and the Uchiha clan, wasn't it? Ignoring the problem and blaming it all on the victims when things went to shit.
His brother was still screaming.
And their teacher was still attempting to calm the older teen down.
Once upon a time, Gaara would've laughed and made fun of such displays, mocked even the mere idea of sacrificing one's own life for the sake of others... And yet, as he glanced back to see the people inside the shimmering barrier, a little of the pain wracking his body seemed to lift.
Higurashi Kagome would not lift her shield.
Just from looking at the shadowed azure of her eyes told him she was just as sure as he was about what the outcome of this fight would look like. It wouldn't be surprising if she was already planning for her next move. It was a bittersweet consolation, the knowledge that even after he fell, the rogue kunoichi would continue with her hunt. Loyal to Konoha or not, Gaara's own experience had shown him what length both her and the Uchiha were willing to go when they were determined about something. And frayed as it may be, it was painfully evident she was still holding on to the bond she had with Naruto. They would keep on pursuing Akatsuki. Probably even after confronting their main target.
His sand was sluggish now, with a considerable delay between the moment he ordered it to move and when the action actually took place.
This was it.
His chakra wasn't enough to keep him moving, and his body was succumbing to the toxins inside him. But Gaara of the Desert was still the Kazekage, and he would not lay down and die. Not without doing all he could.
It took more effort than anything else he'd ever done, but he still managed to call forth as much as he had left. Pieces of sand fell off his skin as he allowed his shield to fall; there was no point in keeping such a thing anymore. His fate was already sealed, and there would be nothing to change it...he would use all remaining strength he had, this would be his final hit.
The sand moved at once, regaining its original speed for just a second, avoiding the secondary puppets while it hardened. The sound of wood cracking reached his ears just a second before what little consciousness he had left slipped through his fingers.
Chaotic didn't even begin to describe what he saw as he rushed through Suna's hidden village. Kagome's reiki was a bright lighthouse for him to follow. There clear as day, Sasuke could see the girl, around her a dozen or so of Suna shinobis. Deep gashes and senbons could be seen on the ground they were standing in, but he couldn't see either the jinchuuriki she'd insisted on helping or the shinobis they'd wanted to attack.
It was also clear that one of them was not happy with the Higurashi.
Vaguely, the Uchiha could somewhat recognize the puppeteer from their one chuunin exam from before they left angrily yelling at Kagome. Her posture showed her irritation, but not she was not defensive.
His blade rested on the man's neck in a heartbeat, immediately shutting him and the others up. The tension of the situation clearly rose as soon as the Suna nins realized who it was that was threatening one of their own. It was probably an overreaction, nothing in what he could see suggested that Kagome was at any genuine risk, but so far, his irritation had only built up with every step he took. Sasuke's patience just wasn't enough for him to keep calm about when it didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened. He really wouldn't care too much about adding a corpse or two to the ones that littered the rocky pathway.
"Touch one hair of her head, and I'll slit your throat." His threat was closer to a growl than a hiss.
"Y-you..."
"Sasuke."
Kagome's tone was the one she used when she wanted him to back down, her hand coming to touch his wrist.
"Gaara was taken." At his silent questioning, the girl continued to explain. "Poison user."
"Poison? Stopping you?" Disbelief colored his words.
"What's that supposed to mean?" the puppeteer glared at him.
"Kagome can't be poisoned," Sasuke scoffed.
It was painfully obvious when the realization dawned on the people around them, and he could tell the girl had been trying not to let her frustration lash out in similar remarks. After all, she'd been the one who'd been invested in trying to get the Akatsuki members before they managed to kill the new Kazekage.
"In any case, I suggest you start sending scouts of your own, ask for whatever aid you can." With a wave of her arm, a flurry of azure butterflies came out and scattered in the air. "We'll keep looking on our own, out of deference to the fact that Gaara is your Kazekage, we'll share what we find."
"If you get on our way, however..." Sasuke trailed off.
"Come on, Sasuke." The girl's voice was almost flippant as she turned around. "You should probably take some samples; there's a chance that's a new type of poison."
Taking hold of the girl's hand, he made sure to pull her along with him; she hadn't really shown it, but he knew her chakra reserves had to be low. Just how much reiki had been used during the fight, Sasuke wasn't sure, but she had to be tired. Even if not physically, then the girl's frustration and irritation had to be taking a toll on her. The parallels between her being stuck being forced to keep a shield up while Gaara got poisoned and being unable to do much of anything other than keeping up her barrier while Naruto launched himself at Orochimaru and almost died couldn't be helping her remain calm at all. Right now, they needed to regroup with the other two and re-consider their strategy.
Jinchuurikis...
It would seem that no matter who it was, they all became sources of trouble within the one person he cared for the most...
A/N: I wondered on and off if I wanted to have the full group reach Suna in time before Deidara attacked or not, at the end I went with it, because of just how fragile the Taishos' relationship with everyone else is, I think they would really need to have a greater amount of intelligence to keep on top of things, so it would make sense that they'd get the news fairly early. Honestly the timing of them getting the info is really close to Jiraiya's warning to Konoha, but where it took some time for it to reach Suna, and Tsunade had no real need to send someone there Kagome and Sasuke just ran as soon as they heard it. It still took them some time and Kagome had to go on ahead, but they did made it. That said, because of her status I don't think Kankuro or the others would've agreed to let her be Gaara's only backup, ergo, they followed them. I think had they not intervened the two of them could've had a good chance of actually winning. Of course even with that, neither Kagome or Sasuke are going to just up and leave, they are definitely going to keep up and interfere with canon and create even more drama.
As always, thank you guys so much for reading and any and all reviews/comments/criticism are greatly, greatly appreciated.