Chasing Gaara, part 3
Miyo
I startled, missed my next step, and fell out of the trees.
"Miyo!" Kakashi-sensei lunged after me, grabbed my curtain-cloak and tried to slow my fall. Unfortunately, my sweatshirt keeps me inside it better than this thing. I slipped right out of it, but by then I'd recovered enough to grab the next tree branch with my threads and swing back up behind Naruto, just inches from the ground.
Rather than slow down and get my cloak back on… "Just hold onto that, Kakashi-sensei! I'll get it back when we stop!"
Gaara…oh, Gaara…
Finally, we made it. Kakashi-sensei passed us – I noted to my amusement that he'd put the thing on – and exchanged words with Guy-sensei.
Lee was ecstatic. "Naruto! Sakura! Miyo!"
Neji just looked stunned. "Naruto…"
Kakashi-sensei passed back my curtain, and we studied the giant boulder that was blocking our way to Gaara. I fished around in my sleeve and found Little Gaara. He didn't react to my touch. He was as "dead" as my Sakura doll. And…I gave him some chakra, aiming for a real-time.
Nothing happened.
Dead as dead. Oh, Gaara…
Neji used his Byakugan to see what was beyond the large boulder blocking our way to Gaara. "I can make out a large cavern, but I can't quite make out what's happening in there. I see several people."
Naruto started being a pain to him. "And what about Gaara? Is he in there?"
"Back off, Naruto! I'm trying to locate him now!"
I grabbed Naruto with the threads on my right arm and pulled him away from Neji. "Naruto…you're not helping the Byakugan any by shaking its owner around."
"Sis…what do your dolls say?"
I channeled some more chakra into Little Gaara and closed my eyes. "Hang on. I'm going to try to see through the real Gaara's eyes. If he's unconscious…" ...or dead… "…then I'll have to treat him like a puppet and open the eyes myself, so be patient. If I'm not out of it in sixty seconds, you've got permission to hit me to snap me out of it."
I focused my spirit into Little Gaara. Then I made the jump to the reality.
That was the worst feeling I'd ever experienced. Gaara's heartbeat was nonexistent, and I could only barely feel my own heartbeat. Slowly, painfully, I forced "my" eyes open. Managing any other movement is just about impossible with this body, and would attract unwelcome attention besides. Just get as much information with moving the eyes around as possible.
What I saw was about what Neji had described: a giant cavern, with a few people in it standing up on the fingers of a giant statue. Most of them weren't really there: it was an Illusion Jutsu. Only two people were officially there, probably the two who'd captured Gaara to begin with. The statue was…something with multiple eyes…that I wished I didn't have to see ever again – it was hideous!
When I'd seen just about all I was going to see from a supine position on the floor, I shut Gaara's eyes again and returned to my body.
I opened my eyes again just in time to see Guy-sensei rush the rock.
Oh, great idea, Guy-sensei: knock on the door, why don't you?
"Sis? What'd you see?"
I rolled my eyes. "About what one would expect from somebody who's sprawled on the floor on his back."
Naruto grabbed my shoulders roughly and started shaking me. "But what about Gaara? Is he okay? What's going on in there?!"
I glared at him with such force that he let go and stepped back. "I don't answer people who treat me in that manner. You're going to have to find out yourself."
The teachers started talking about taking down the barrier keeping us from getting inside. Step 1 was figuring out what type of barrier it was. I was…only halfway paying attention. I was paying enough attention to know what had to be done: five tags, all in different locations, all needing to be removed at the exact same time.
Neji located the tags, while I was fussing with my Team Guy dolls, getting them current.
Sakura worried about how far apart the tags were, and Guy-sensei pulled out wireless radios, distributing them among himself, his team, and Kakashi-sensei. Lee looked different with his headband on his forehead. I swapped where I had his headband tied on Little Lee. Guy laid out who was going for which tag.
I looked up from my dolls. "I'll keep track of everyone running out. If anyone runs into trouble, just wave, and I can lend a hand."
"Excellent!"
Then Lee just about deafened the radio-listeners by having his microphone turned up too high. Good grief.
Guy's hands-in was equally embarrassing. The part that had me snickering, though, was just how long it took Neji to set his hand in; he was just looking at Guy like he was saying, "You're kidding me, right? I am NOT putting my hand in."
After Guy gave what he probably thought was a rev-up chant, the whole team vaulted away. Then Naruto said that we should do the hands-in thing, too. I sat down on the surface of the water and crossed my arms. "Don't bother me, I'm working."
I'm just glad everyone else standing here shut Naruto down.
I really was working – I was monitoring Team Guy through my dolls, though I had to move out of the way to give Sakura a clear runway: once the barrier was down, she was going to break through the boulder.
I was just going to stay back. I was still pretty hesitant to close in for a fight, and my jutsu was an assist anyway.
Particular twitches from certain dolls told me that Neji, Tenten and Guy had all found theirs. I wondered what was keeping Lee. Probably forgot the directions to his particular tag. That would be just typical.
No, give Lee credit: Guy sent him to the one that was on a tree, and that puts him in the middle of a forest. He probably just needed help finding the right tree.
Finally, Little Lee gave his twitch. I settled back and got ready for…anything, I hoped.
The tags were torn, the rock was crushed…and I suddenly started reading strange agitated waves along Team Guy's energy signals. Something was up.
The other four jumped into the cavern. I stayed outside, connecting those four dolls to my strings. Viewing through Kakashi's eyes – well, eye – I was able to get an accurate picture of both people inside, and I made doll-copies of both, as accurately as I could. Actually, I'd already started those dolls using my Gaara-view, but that had been dark and skewed. Thanks to Itachi, I'd made the robes already.
Then I heard Naruto roar, "I'll kill the both of you!"
