Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
A/N: Forgot to mention this; after chapter three, Gaara became Kazekage, but he still trained his students. Sorry for forgetting to tell you all!
Chapter Five
Differences: Part 2
Gaara ran towards where he heard Amy's scream, when he heard a low moan.
"Gaara-sensei...is that you...?"
Gaara turned to see Sari slumped against a brick wall. Her brown hair was ruffled; she had a kunai cut across her left arm, and she was bleeding from her nose and mouth.
He bent down so he could look at her eye-to-eye.
"What happened, Sari?" he asked his student.
She gave a light cough—then spoke.
"Matsuri invited me and Amy to a sleepover at her house... and we accepted. I needed to go buy something, so Amy came with me. She said she wanted to help me if I was hurt, so she followed. We—well, more like Amy—didn't want to keep Matsuri waiting..." She swallowed soundlessly, wincing when she felt a sore spot. "...so we came through this alleyway.
"At the end of the alleyway, this man was stood there like he was waiting for us. I got in front of Amy, and when he saw us, he attacked me; he did this." Sari explained, pointing to her cuts and bruises. She coughed again, and Gaara placed a (what he hoped was comforting) hand on her shoulder and gave her a slight nod for her to continue.
"Amy threw a rock at him, so he diverted his attention to her. Then, she ran off... and he followed her; I couldn't catch her." She gave a shaky breath. "And Matsuri's still waiting for us, sensei." Tears formed in Sari's eyes.
Gaara was a little shocked by the news; for one, it was dark, so why would Amy and Sari decided to take a shortcut? Alleyways in Suna were rare, and the few you found were very dangerous. Two, Amy just saved Sari from being killed by that man.
Then, something dawned on Gaara; he couldn't go after Amy and stay with Sari. They both needed him, but they were in two different places. It was times like this he wished Naruto was here; the blonde would probably create a shadow clone, one to help Sari or Amy, while he went and helped the other. And knowing Naruto, he'd then try to pummel the man into next week.
It was lucky for him Matsuri came at that moment. Matsuri dropped her shopping and ran over to her best friend. "Sari...Sari, what happened?"
Gaara looked at his first student. "Matsuri, stay with Sari." When Matsuri nodded after, Gaara took off, to search for Amy.
-xxx-
When Gaara found Amy, she was pinned against the wall by the man. Gaara glared. "Let her go," he growled.
"Gaara-sensei!"
The man took a step back, dropping Amy on the floor as he did, his eyes wide with fear. "Kazekage-sama!"
The young Ichibi host glared at the man. "What were you doing with my student?"
"I didn't know she was your student! Please show mercy on me," the man begged, taking another couple steps back.
"Get out of here," Gaara started, glaring at the poor man. "And don't even think about hurting Ittetsu or Matsuri. Don't ever touch Amy or Sari again."
The man nodded, quickly leaving, barely glancing back at Gaara or his student. He would think twice before pulling that stunt again.
Gaara bent down to Amy, holding out his hand. "Are you okay?"
Amy nodded, but had a confused look on her face as she took his hand in hers and stood up. "Gaara-sensei, why did that man seem so scared of you?"
Gaara pulled his hand back to his side and walked to Sari with Amy. "Because, I'm feared by most of Suna; cut out Ittetsu, Sari, Matsuri, and you. And Naruto's cut out too, even though he's in Konoha. Everyone else is afraid of me; Kankuro, Temari and Baki used to be, but the elders still are."
"Is that the only reason?" Amy asked; she was pretty mad now. "Why else are you feared by Suna? I mean, no one else is feared by their villages, and Daichi's met some scary people before."
"Because I'm different." Gaara replied, looking over to Amy.
"Well, isn't it good to be different?"
After those words left Amy's mouth, a small, thin smile appeared on his lips; he agreed with her. It was okay to be different.
Amy was proof of that.